There is a lush simplicity to Izzy Heltai's wistful folk indie, garden rock "Day Plan". It shuns all current indie pop tropes and instead serves up earnest pushed emotions via piano, guitar, bass and drums and Heltai's vocal aesthetic that, too, feels timeless. This is not to say that the song is simple, it is not. The progressions move like a gentle river with tumultuous spots and Heltai's secret weapon is the sadness underneath and, of course, his story telling. While the central theme might be loneliness, "Day Plan" feels like a movie about the quiet heroism of everyday life.
Of the song Heltai shares:
"-Day Plan- is about moving into a one-bedroom apartment during a global pandemic. It’s about the isolation posed by a looming New England winter living alone, without the ability to see most of my friends due to this virus. I hoped that the time and space might be good for my songwriting, but I had no idea what it would feel like to be alone for so long.
I’m not used to monotony, to daily routines. I was mostly on the road before all of this and I love change. This song is part of coming to terms with what it means to be in one place for so long."
To me, "Day Plan", feels classically drawn. I mentioned to someone that Heltai's aesthetic here feels like Graham Nash without sounding like him. They both have the ability to coyly insert their own emotional textures into your heart and head while their beautiful words and melodies hypnotize. The song is the first single since his debut album "Father", crafted in his friend Andy Cass's studio in Williamsburg, Massachusetts. [Izzy plays acoustic guitar and sings on his recordings. He is joined by Garrett Salazar on drums, Andy Cass on bass, and Micah Katz-Zeiger on everything else. Izzy’s producer, Max Shakun (Parsonsfield), lovingly coins Micah as their swiss army knife, “because he plays literally everything else”.]
-Robb Donker Curtius
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THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES
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If aliens came to earth, Izzy Heltai would describe his debut album, Father, to them this way: “There are frequencies that are going to feel like clanking, that maybe you’ll enjoy sonically. There are words strung together to sound nice. They are about an important human trajectory when one goes from a child to a slightly more serious child called an adult.”
His new music is the product and reflection of the broad spectrum of music Izzy enjoys listening to. From his love of pop, analog electronic, to country, Izzy loves blending elements of genres to create his own unique take on what a folk song is.
The child of two mathematicians, Izzy showed little interest in numbers, science, or academia. Luckily, his parents adjusted. His mom took him to lilac festivals, ballets, and Newport Folk Festival back when kids tickets were $20.
Izzy’s mother is Italian; she loves opera and 60’s female folk singers. His father is Hungarian; and Izzy still isn’t really sure what he does for work. His sister is a socialist who works for Haymarket books, which has quite a Twitter presence.
When asked to summarize his style in three words, Izzy responded “everyday queer trash.” He has tattoos, a pierced ear, a pretty shitty mustache, and bleach blond tips. He cuffs his pants, and wears his t-shirts tucked into his light wash jeans. But he believes he leads a moral life over an aesthetic life. When asked if he would give his life for all of the art in the Met, he said no. When asked if he would give his life for other people, he said yes.
Izzy works primarily in his friend Andy Cass’s studio in Williamsburg, MA, where he recorded the entirety of his debut album Father and his new singles. Izzy plays acoustic guitar and sings on his recordings. He is joined by Garrett Salazar on drums, Andy Cass on bass, and Micah Katz-Zeiger on everything else. Izzy’s producer, Max Shakun (Parsonsfield), lovingly coins Micah as their swiss army knife, “because he plays literally everything else”. Since Father was released in September 2020, Izzy has moved from a folk sound to a blend of pop, indie, and classic rock.
He resides in a valley, in western Massachusetts, in a town called Easthampton. He lives alone, and is not in a relationship. He loves biking and most of his time is focused on work and making drum loops in his bedroom.
— Bianca Giaever
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