Izzy Mahoubi – 'How To Run' EP Review

Tracklist:

1. Cool Guy 2. Hang Around 3. Torn In Two 4. How To Run

So have you heard of Izzy Mahoubi? No? Well you need to rectify that immediately!

This is Izzy’s debut EP, it’s very much smack in the middle between singer/songwriter and Indie. Eighteen year old Izzy is clearly a talent but I suspect not one for the indie scene for too long, she has clear pop/rock sensibilities and a lovely ear for lyrics and melody.

'Cool Guy' is just prefect as an evocation of what many of us go through in music at some point, that moment that we start becoming aware that the people we look up to and think are so cool are just human, normal, flawed and often not as great as we convince ourselves. It has that feel of longing for the lost innocence that comes when the reality of the world dawns. It’s not very complimentary of some indie rock ‘gods’ but to be fair there are a number who think the sun shines out of somewhere while having no justification for that belief! While it’s aimed at cool guys it could be taken to be about anyone who has started to believe their own press releases.

There is something breezy yet focussed about 'Hang Around', it feels like it has a surprising touch of Sheryl Crow in there, I can sense however that Izzy is being guided totally by her own muse. It also has that feel of of someone who has their own, unique, here and now,, Tuesday Night Music Club in them.

'How to Run' is Taylor Swift meets Haim, meets Joni Mitchell while giving birth to a beautiful child of a song. For someone just starting out Izzy has an impressive voice already but more impressive are her lyrics, for someone so young it feels like there is more experience than makes sense.

'Torn in Two' is more melancholy, more introspective, more emotional, yet it’s clear the protagonist knows they need to make a change but just can’t face making the decision and allows the other person to keep making the decisions. It has longing, it has desire and it has resignation. It’s lovely and poignant.

As debut EP’s goes this one is right up there and then some, it feels like the start of something that could be very special, I’m in for the duration, are you?