Richard Mwanthi
Born and raised in Oakland, California, King Isis' world is one open to all inspiration and with a rich musical heritage. Having learned to play piano on the same piano used by their great-great-grandmother Omega King, one of the first Black opera singers in Chicago, Isis skips between indie rock, jazz, and R&B in order to excavate the most personal of feelings from deep within their core.
On new song "taste of u," they nod their head to Joni Mitchell as they sing of a relationship and its stupefying effect. "I had a case of you I’m drowning and I do it just because," they sing over a funk beat lit up with hazy guitars and big melodic hooks. Things get messy as they go on singing, "Now I’m stained with you." The marks will wash out but Isis makes it clear, they're coming back for more.
"taste of u" will feature on King Isis' debut EP scales, due for release via Dirty Hit and No Matter on March 29. A video for "taste of u" is premiering below.
Speaking to The FADER via email, King Isis said; "I wrote ‘taste of u’ during a really hot summer in 2022 experimenting with production in my room. James Blake’s cover of Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case Of You’ had found its way back into my head and her lyrics definitely influenced the symbol of intoxicated love throughout the song. So so good. Anyway, 'taste of u' kinda exists as a reflection on previous relationships I’ve had as well as some situations my friends were dealing with at the time, relationships that kinda hinder your growth because you’ve been encapsulated and blinded by a delusion of ‘love.'"