After earning a surge of praise for her recent album
‘A Good Woman’,
Izo FitzRoy then landed an
A-list at
Jazz FM for the single
‘Body of Mine’. Clearly in the midst of an inspired run of creativity,
Izo now shares another unreleased song from the album sessions in the shape of
‘Black Insides’ ahead of her confirmed performance on
Later…With Jools Holland on
Saturday 4th November on BBC 2. Listen
HERE.‘Black Insides’ verges on epic territory, as Izo’s unhurried songwriting unites husky-voiced confessional soul, taut funk, and spiritual gospel harmonies within its expansive 6-minute soundscape. Its sheer scope might have felt at odds within the concise nature of ‘A Good Woman’, but as a standalone track it demonstrates just how ambitious and free-from-genre thatIzo’s music can be – all topped, as ever, with her smoky-yet-silken vocal talent.
Izo says, “Black Insides is a reflective song, about the pitfalls of blaming one another when a relationship falls to pieces. How “taking shots” at another eventually leads back to an even greater sense of shame in oneself. The song starts and ends with the same dreamlike harmonic sequence which mirrors the lyrical theme – you can’t escape your own emotional turmoil by projecting it onto someone else. It always comes back round again”.
As with ‘Body of Mine’, ‘Black Insides’ was written by Izo with the track’s producer, Oscar de Jong.
In addition to ‘Black Insides’, Izo also today shares a new live performance of ‘Hope Divine’. This new take on the album’s opening track somehow takes the original’s hymnal ambience higher still, with Izo visibly lost in both the music and the mood as she leads a full live band and a sextet of backing vocalists. The latest episode in Izo’s series of live performances of songs from ‘A Good Woman’, this video was filmed in the live room at The Pool in Bermondsey, and was directed and edited by Jodie Canwell.
As well as the new songs and live videos, Izo has further uncovered fresh takes on the myriad of influences that emerge on ‘A Good Woman’ with remixes from Cosmodelica, Art of Tones, Sam Redmore and Moods. She also presented a deeper dive into her creative process with a documentary that examined the making of the album.
Since the release of ‘A Good Woman’, Izo has completed a European tour in support of the record which included two packed London headline shows at The Jazz Cafe as well festival dates such as Green Man, Camper Calling and Shambala. Her upcoming dates include three London shows: Hoxton Hall as guest to Tracey Jane Campbell on October 6th and then matinee and evening headline shows at Ronnie Scott’s on November 24th – tickets for which are available HERE.
