king isis ‘sirenity’
Lettuce & Cheddar EP Review
All photos from @itskingisis “My personal favorite—though I can’t quite explain why—is the interlude, tuesday in la (voice memo). It feels like the quiet crash after a manic episode, a dissociative meditation on nothingness. The fact that it either is, or sounds exactly like, a real voice memo grounds the record in real life. There’s no flashiness, no polish. It is exactly what it presents itself to be.”
Sirenity is the exceptional third EP from Oakland native King Isis. It’s hard to categorize King Isis as anything other than completely themselves. Their biography says they “shape-shift through sound, blending rock, pop, and whatever else feels right in the moment,” and that’s about as close as one can get to capturing the magic of what they do. In a world of binaries, Isis breaks through every expectation to deliver something truly unique: themselves.
PERMANENTLY BROKEN is the first track on the EP, serving as both the perfect introduction and central thesis for the five-song project. Isis alternates between clarity and chaos, both in form and substance. The verses are filled with soft vocals and cascading, graceful melodies, while the hook explodes with clashing instrumentation and a staccato refrain that one can only imagine screaming at the top of their lungs. There’s a controlled madness to it all, a graceful acceptance of inner mayhem. “I might lose my mind / guess that’s what life’s about.”
While PERMANENTLY BROKEN leans heavily into pop-punk, the second track, TEARS DON’T FALL (IN A RIVER), is a futuristic, psychedelic folk-rock masterpiece. (Did I really just use all of those words together? Did I mention hyperpop? Does it matter?) The autotuned lead melody in the hook pairs perfectly with a choir of screamo-like layers, creating a sound that’s both menacing and utterly original. The vocal production is absolutely brilliant. With bellowing instrumentation behind it, Isis’s energy becomes completely infectious.
The third track, BAD 4 ME, is more stripped-down by comparison. It’s anchored in a grimy drum loop and a distorted, harrowing bassline. Funnily enough, amidst the sparse production, Isis delivers the most conventional hook on the entire project. It’s absolute ear candy, delivered in the most unexpected way.
My personal favorite—though I can’t quite explain why—is the interlude, tuesday in la (voice memo). It feels like the quiet crash after a manic episode, a dissociative meditation on nothingness. The fact that it either is, or sounds exactly like, a real voice memo grounds the record in real life. There’s no flashiness, no polish. It is exactly what it presents itself to be. As someone who’s been cursed to sit in the hazy fog of an LA afternoon, wondering how and why things went so completely wrong, there’s something deeply soothing about Isis’s indifference. “C’est la vie, that’s just a Tuesday in LA.”
The EP closes with LATELY, which might be the lyrical centerpiece of the entire project. Tension builds and bubbles until finally, the climactic moment arrives. For 20 raw, powerful seconds, Isis lets it all out. The walls fall, and the mirror is held to their face: “So what? / Why can’t you just grow up? / Why don’t you just show up? / Maybe I’m the problem / Maybe it’s all too much.” It’s an unforgettable moment—pure emotional release. And then, just like that, it ends as quickly as it begins. The rest of the song is sung in what can only be described as catharsis. “It all looks like the same thing / Like nothing’s really changing / And no one’s gonna save me… I promise that I’m changing.”
What a stunning conclusion.
