The musical universe that cellist and singer, IzzI Dunn inhabits is strictly unlimited. Punctuated by the fact that her time is now, IzzI grabs her cello and treads into an effortless territory where hip hop beats marry elaborate string arrangements and heartfelt songwriting to produce a 21st century journey of sincere aspirations, self-effacing questions and unblinking hope. So yeah, to call IzzI's music life affirming is an understatement...
Her record is a life of innervisions on wax.
But don't come to this party expecting only soul-baring introspection. IzzI asks big questions about our everyday lives and like any other self-assured musician - never claims to have all the answers. It’s at this point where all the sassy confidence, fragile humility and diverse musical influences meld together to reveal the international potential, maturity and career longevity of this young songstress.
Growing up in a 'serious musical family' (meaning that her mother was a classically trained opera singer and her father an old fashioned entertainer) allowed IzzI to take to the cello aged 9. Years of band play, sessions and concerts opened the doors for IzzI to play with some of the most talented musicians to come out of British music, period. From Wookie and MJ Cole to the idiosyncratic wordsmith Roots Manuva and wunderkind producer, Kaidi Tatham.
IzzI's debut LP 'The Big Picture' not only joins the dots between a handful of 12" releases and a now classic EP. It also marks the arrival of a session musician who has swapped the background for the ambivalent spotlight. One where the cello and voice weave a seamless, other world-like beauty (Imagine Chaka Khan and Prince sharing a female body and growing up in Sheffield via West London. With hip hop in their blood and Stravinsky in their hands) painting the stories of a generation at odds with this world gone mad.