Izzie Voodoo? Izzie VOODOO? You just know that Izzie is actually middle class Ysabel (and, trust me, that’s got to be the spelling) from Kingston-upon-Thames who has all the advantages a really wealthy upbringing can give you. She could teach dance at the age of thirteen after a precocious decade of practice and she apparently spent a great deal of time performing on stage.
The sloppy cover, line-drawing picture of ‘Izzie’ and the scratchy purple colour illustrate The Push’s musical content pretty well. The artwork was created at Dark Wave Art and that appears to be the musical constituency Izzie Voodoo is aiming for: a sort-of Goth Portishead without the tunes or inventiveness.
The Push can be given a fascinating write-up but the end result is poorly executed, half-formed and disappointing. If I were to describe to you an album where 80s Goth icon Danielle Dax covered late-period Gary Numan, the clamour for copies would be deafening. This is exactly what Izzie Voodoo sounds like, only she hasn’t the faintest idea how to create memorable songs, hooks or sounds in the process.
The only song that stands out (coincidentally the one that the press release promotes above the rest) is the ‘Song Of The Year’ finalist “Sound” - which at least has had time and effort spent on it. As the lead download single from the album it’s the most commercial and polished of the songs on offer here. It’s just soporifically bland.
Izzie Voodoo, the press release claims, taught herself to play and produce all the instruments on The Push; that’s clearly true because she appears to have no idea which area she wants to accentuate. Vocally she strays little from the Danielle Dax comparison except to slow down to speak the words at points. The lyrics are all faux avant-garde pop but without either insight or bite.
Izzie Voodoo sings, she plays, she produces. All of it reasonable, all of it utterly tedious.
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