We last heard from Izzy Spring in December upon the release of her single, “Home for the Holidays.” With its familiar title and Jazzy arrangement the song sounded deceptively like a traditional Christmas song. However, the sarcastic bite and sharp wit of the lyrics made it clear that this Los Angeles-based musician had more to say than the confines of a sugary holiday song would normally allow. This is an artist who digs deep into her music and makes a real connection with the emotions she finds there.
That sort of creative courage, curiosity and restless energy define Izzy Spring as an artist. In addition to her budding career as a talented singer/songwriter, she is a harpist and visual effects designer. Last year, in addition to “Home for the Holidays” she released her debut EP “Nostalgia.” With each new release we find the singer exploring different avenues of the Pop music world, and expanding the scope of her own repertoire in the process.
“Monsters in the Closet” is the latest single from Izzy Spring, released worldwide to all major streaming services on February 26, 2021. The track matches the singer’s smart, confessional Dark Pop narrative with an arrangement of classical piano and strings as she tells an intensely personal tale of childhood trauma. In style and emotional content the sound brings to mind some of the mellower work of other great intellectual Pop singers like Regina Spektor or St. Vincent.
Check out “Monsters in The Closet” below. You can also hear the track on the Deep Indie Dive playlist. We had the opportunity to chat with the artist about the song. Read her answers to our 5 questions. And follow the links below to connect with Izzy Spring and get in the loop on all of the upcoming projects from this dynamic and talented young artist.
5 Questions with Izzy Spring
The Static Dive: Tell us again about yourself
Izzy Spring: I’m just a doofus trying to be half-Chinese Hannah Montana and make music haha.
SD: This song seems to veer in a different direction than your last releases, was this intentional and why the switch?
IS: To be super honest, this song is really the direction I want to go with a lot of my future music! Nostalgia as an album really harkens back to this sort of 90s feel for me, but this sound feels like who I am now! And I’m really excited to continue exploring it
SD: What is the story behind the song?
IS: Oh no haha. This will definitely get me in a bit of trouble to tell, and it’s pretty dark. But it’s not like I went into music to censor myself so here it goes I guess!
It was spawned by a Christmas with some extended family years back when my mom had breast cancer. She was trying to hide it from her parents as my grandpa was dying and she didn’t want to give them any stress, and she made a point of telling my sibling and I that even if my family was cruel we had to grin and bear it for my grandparents.
A family member —who knew she had cancer—started yelling at her and saying horrible things for no good reason, and I remember hearing her trembling voice trying to quiet the argument through the walls. That’s when I remembered the monster closet! I had some older cousins who liked to shove me in a closet (I’m still quite afraid of) when I was from the ages of 3-10ish, and I realized the monsters in that closet could never be as bad as some of the monsters you meet in adulthood.
SD: Do you still have nightmares relating to this trauma?
IS: Not nightmares per say, but anxiety and fear for sure. My immediate family is such a rock and support through my life my biggest fears right now really revolve around not being able to support them in the same fashion.
SD: How have you been through the pandemic?
IS: It’s been a bit of a mix! I love getting the time to reflect and be my own person, but it’s definitely hard to go create when you can’t really collaborate with others except digitally. Especially visuals. I’ve definitely written a lot of depressing songs as well which is probably a reflection of how well I’ve been dealing with it. Oof, this got a bit dark didn’t it?