– Izia – FNAC Live – Hotel de Ville de Paris – July 18, 2015 – FNAC –
A few years ago I ran a session via the Paris radio station Le Mouv of the then-new kid on the block, Izia Higelin who comes from a musical family; her dad is French Rocker Jacques Higelin and her brother is singer-songwriter/experimenter Arthur H. With that much music running around in the family you would assume Izia would have a few things to say on her own. You’d be right. From the get-go, Izia was a force to be reckoned with – not one to take music lightly, she is an emotional powerhouse, and even though you would not describe her as a “belter”, she has the range and the ability to pull the emotions out of a song and make it profound and all her own.
Izia, in the two years since I first heard her, has taken the French Indie Music scene by storm – has performed with none other than Iggy Pop and is blazing a trail and proving, once again, that French Rock is nothing to sneeze at. With her 3rd album out, she has been in full-on tour mode this year.
Fingers crossed she comes to the States at some point, or even does a few gigs in the UK. I suspect her popularity will be a lot wider than she imagines right now.
I will try and get hold of her upcoming gig at Paléo – in the meantime, here is what she did yesterday in Paris.
Play loud. It’s a strange sound mix, but she overcomes it and kicks ass anyway.
