Coming out of the scene in the North East of England is Sunderland-based Isabel Maria, and not too long ago saw the singer-songwriter reveal her stripped-back new tune, "Holy Smokes!". The new single is the first slice of new music since she released her live EP earlier in the year, and this is even the first studio single since her 2023 single "Changed Man".
Dreamy and stripped back with raw emotive vocals.
If you're the type of person that likes dreamy music that is a bit on the stripped-back side of things then you'll be melting like butter in a hot pan. Isabel's vocals remind me a lot of the amazing Holly Humberstone, it's raw, emotive with plenty of power that can travel along and through thousands of people in a festival field.
Musically the deep guitar and bass tones on this help to add in plenty of depth, which also elevated it for me from just another dreamy indie-rock track to something that I can easily come back to time again and not ever get bored of.