Ishana is one unexpected singer/ songwriter. The classically-trained guitar graduate electrifies in the heavy synth, rousing “Cold Lake”. Bridging together her fairy-like vocals into the moving lyrics, “Cold Lake” tells of the personal journey of overcoming grief and heartache. It’s about finding your place in the world and being comfortable within your own skin. “Cold Lake” is from Ishana’s second album, Old Skin II.
URL: https://ishanarahim.wixsite.com/ishanamusic
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/IshanaMusic
With little beats that sound like a xylophone, Ishana sings of yearning. I can barely breathe, she sings. So frustrating…shivering…she continues. Mixed within the blinking lights are shooting, zephyr-like sounds. Sounding almost like a pow, pow or laser gun, the music bed is uplifting and filtered like a favorite Instagram filter. Ishana’s voice can be mumbled and lost in the cloud of music at times. I found myself content to just humming along to her cadence. The song glides along like a ribbon in the wind, or a flag on a windy day. It can be both crisp and taught, and other times incredibly wavy and loose. She harmonizes with immense beauty and an emotional intensity. I think her strength is when she holds the notes and lets the humming just fade into the music’s path.
The more Ishana harmonized the more surer I became in my assessment that her voice is rooted in a natural, calm place. When the breaking music bed changes and at times zips in and out of the song, it’s Ishana’s voice that is the buoy, floating above more oft than not. I can surmise that this song is about not wasting time any more in or being adrift in past relationships. I think it’s an example of an artist finding her true voice and her life compass. The buoyancy in her voice is both flattering and endearing. When Ishana coos or lingers the notes longer in certain moments, she’s exhaling years of frustrations and years of yearning. She’s arrived. Her ship has come in and the port is the port she was searching for all those years. I think she’s a world away from the start of her journey, to where her present is.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/au/artist/ishana/648420165
Ishana, who is based in Montreal, Canada, shares a rich tradition of eclectic music that often combines electronica and awe-inspiring harmonies with alt rockers and fellow Canadian’s Arcade Fire. More in common than expected, these musicians and artists are delivering more-than-meets-the eye pieces. I think Ishana is going to go far. Ishana finds a way to convert the listener, to get them on her side and feel her inner beauty. Unlike the lyric of being caught in the quicksand, I felt very fulfilled and satisfied listening to this sweet escape of a song. I was more caught in the net that included Ishana’s glowing vocals and quirky music beats to feel bogged down by anything else. Some days the song is more about the emotional connection than it is about the actual words. That proved to be my listening experience in Ishana’s “Cold Lake”. Her voice and her artistry warmed my heart.
Jodi Marxbury