"the world seems so dark and the future alone"
South African American artist, singer songwriter and producer Vian Izak has a vocal aesthetic that feels at once, nostalgic, comfortable, reverent and deeply moving. It is this character, a sense of life lived, of caring and concern that can feel like a father, a brother, a good friend that infuses his very inclusive words with hope and inspiration. On Sangre de Cristo, he does on acoustic piano keys with measured orchestration instills a spartan but beautiful far reaching embrace that will touch you. I felt an emotional tug like an earnest Coldplay song and, in fact, Davide Rossi, long time friend of Izak's and, who is known for his stirring string arrangements on a wide array of Coldplay songs including "Viva la Vida", arranged and performed violin and cello giving Sange de Cristo a gospel like ascension when it feels most needed.
Sangre de Cristo is yet one of the songs from Izak's 2021 album release "Fight of the Aeronaut" with Rossi contributing to the entire collection of songs.
“My goal was to work with the best people I knew on something that deeply matters to me. I wanted live strings, live drums, and to get feedback from musicians that I admired as a kid.” The creatives who helped on this project do not disappoint. From a collaboration with multi-Grammy award winner Davide Rossi (all strings for Coldplay, Goldfrapp, and dozens more), to players like Emmanuel Echem (Judah & the Lion) and Camille Faulkner (Julian Baker), with mix advice from Grammy winning mix engineer Michael Brauer (Coldplay, John Mayer), the record has been shaped by people who are the best in their field. The music is raw, deep, and focused.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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BIO
Animated South African American artist Vian Izak partnered with Spotify for an exclusive six month campaign to promote six EPs and a 32 page full color webcomic exclusively available to Spotify fans. The project aims to combine comic book/superhero culture with pop music. After receiving 7 million streams in 2017, over 30 playlist placements including New Music Friday, and a social campaign by Spotify on both its Twitter (https://goo.gl/K1Lbiu) and Facebook (https://goo.gl/Mnx3go) accounts, Izak wraps up the project by releasing ‘Northern Anthems’ which combines the past six releases into an album. He also released a printed version of his comic worldwide which up until now has been exclusive to Spotify users.
Originally featured on comic news giant Newsarama and added to New Music Friday in several countries including Canada and Norway, the first part of the project launched in late July 2017 and wrapped up in December 2017. The music has been featured by dozens of indie pop blogs and described as cinematic, progressive, and emotional. Izak deals with issues ranging from loss, to hope, to political unrest. His lead single “Starlit Summer’s Eve” is an ethereal indie anthem outlining Izak’s ponderings on life and growing up. His second single "‘Till Your Heart is Still" walks through Izak’s relational ups and downs. His last single “The London Air Raids” is a look at today’s political climate through the eyes of two lovers during WW2.
The project is part of a unique wave of initiatives aiming to combine music with concept world and story. Inspired by The Archies in the sixties and The Gorillaz today, the project portrays all members as illustrated characters and weaves story into each musical release. Developed by illustrator Hein Zaayman, the Vian Izak comic titled “Vian Izak’s Adventures” is a fantastical sci-fi comic about two adventurers who discover strange phenomena in the Arctic like african animals roaming the waste. The travelers go on an adventure to discover the mystery behind the events.
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