“Hold me close when the hour nears / Close the curtain before you fade / Tonight… It’s Alright…” croons a cryptic voice from behind a haze of string play in “South of Yesterday,” one of the four songs on Izzie’s Caravan’s new EP Zephyrs. A follow-up to 2019’s Leo’s Guitar, Zephyrs is by far the more melodic and poetic offering between the two records, and a slightly more psychedelic-inspired take on the band’s trademark blues sound. In tracks like “South of Yesterday,” Izzie’s Caravan backburner muscularity in favor of channeling abstract harmonies with a surprisingly amount of success.
There’s a very relaxed vibe here compared to the often angst-ridden, throttling energy that drove home Leo’s Guitar. Texture and tonality shape the narratives within “Holy in Your Smile” and the title track, and though there isn’t nearly as much adrenaline present in this affair, the passion in the players remains completely intact. If there were any doubts as to whether or not Izzie’s Caravan could work with a multifaceted spectrum of sounds prior to now, I think that the arrival of Zephyrs will put most all of them to bed. This is a kaleidoscopic EP with strong blues undertones, but aside from that, trying to categorize it using conventional terminology seems a little shortsighted.
“Tracii’s Ballad” and “South of Yesterday” are almost purely harmony-driven in their construction, and as a result, they’re two of the most efficiently composed songs Izzie’s Caravan have ever recorded. There’s an old fashioned pop blueprint finding its way into the fold for this band in Zephyrs, and as startling as it might be to some, they’re adapting to its pillar concept exceptionally well. They still aren’t in need of any synthesized buffering, and that on its own makes them a unique case in the contemporary underground.
The strings bleed into the vocal rather indulgently in “Holy in Your Smile,” but my gut tells me that the elements were purposely stylized this way to create a more psychedelic effect in the song. This is a really seamlessly produced collection of tracks, and considering the surreal components, you’ve got to marvel at how well the scattered melodies have been bound together in neatly-arranged compositions. Izzie’s Caravan have gotten a lot more technical in the last year, and I really like where they’re headed with the creative angles amalgamating in this most recent studio effort.
With four songs that feature a group of players pulling out the biggest guns in their war chest, Zephyrs is a must-listen for fans of modern blues hybrids. This is a different look than what Leo’s Guitar suggested, but just the same, I love what it says about who Izzie’s Caravan are right now. They’re getting into the groove of their sound and finding new ways to get the most out of their chemistry, which is a lot more than I can say for some of their mainstream counterparts this spring. I saw a lot of great things in this crew’s future before hearing their latest release, and now, I’m all the more certain of their legitimacy
Jodi Marxbury