King Isis releases new single ‘Dissonance’
RELEASES NEW SINGLE ‘DISSONANCE’
WATCH / LISTEN
SHED OUT NOW VIA NO MATTER/DIRTY HIT’
LISTEN
“an artist who refuses to be bound by genre and can hop between sounds without compromising a clear and immediate sense of self” – Dork
“Dynamic alt-rock and R&B artist King Isis asserts their strength on the captivating, highly anticipated new EP, Shed.” – Wonderland
“Digging Deep and emerging with a debut EP that refuses to conform to any boxes, the Californian’s ambitions are as wide as the scope of their ideas” – DIY
“They sing about intoxication (“taste”), but their sound is just as alluring — so get ready to bow down to your rising indie-pop king” – Alt Press
King Isis (they/she) is back with the grunge-filled single ‘Dissonance’ produced by frequent collaborator and childhood friend, Jaden Wiggins. The new song continues their exploration with themes of catharsis and acceptance, coming to terms with experiences, thoughts and processes that shape us to be who we are.
On the track King Isis says, “’Dissonance’ is a song about embracing the differences that make us whole, that make us who we are. It leans into the ‘other,’ a celebration of the pieces of selves that we may feel adverse to or are socially rejected. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to conform and present in ways that were outside of myself to appease the perceptions of others. So this is a song about being happy and full in my own, however that shows up. It’s embracing the tension and uneasiness in self and communal discovery, just loving yourself fully and those around you who embrace that difference.”
‘Dissonance’ follows the release of their breakout EP shed in March, heavily inspired by Gloria E. Anzaldúa’s seminal text Borderlands/La Frontera and its examination of snakes as a metaphor and theme of purging. King Isis was also featured on ”Bob Dylan Bus” with Kenny Mason and Monte Booker for Pigeons & Planes’ See You Next Year 2 compilation album and hit the road quite a few times this year. They joined Mehro on his Reason to Live tour wrapping in late March as well as shows at Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco and Third Man Records in Soho, London.
More on King Isis
Oakland born and raised King Isis is unclassifiable, a product of a lifetime of music fandom shaped by their Bay Area upbringing, the music they were raised on, and their contemporaries, who they found solace in at their lowest points. They write from a place of introspection, their songs relay a forceful conviction capacious enough to shelter a community.
In collaboration with their childhood friend, producer Jaden Wiggins, King Isis started putting music out online, first under another name, before releasing scales via No Matter/Dirty Hit. In March of 2024, they released shed, a companion piece to scales that offers listeners new insight into Isis’s mercurial artistic persona. Not easily classified by genre, shed is a darker, grungier inversion of the alt-pop and acoustic stripped-back songs heard on scales, and a rejection of the strict, classical piano schooling that once led Isis to question their artistry.
