Released back in 2020, isle&fever‘s “U Never Know” landed on Spotify’s Serotonin playlist and eventually amassed over one-million streams. During the height of the pandemic, the indie pop/indie funk outfit’s frontman Donald Eley moved to San Pancho, Mexico full-time while Tiger Smith (multi-instrumentalist and producer) remained in the Echo Park section of Los Angeles, working through a folder of music ideas in his basement studio.
Continuing to work remotely resulted in last year’s sultry Larry Levan-era house-meets Quiet Storm synth funk-like “On Yr Mind,” a track which further cemented the duo’s burgeoning reputation for crafting hook-driven, upbeat, funky pop.
The duo’s latest single “Breakthrough” is part of an EP with similar songs that they’ve released over the past two years. Built around glistening and blocky synth arpeggios, a strutting bass line, skittering beats, bursts of twinkling keys and congo paired with a chopped up and pitched vocal and a remarkably catchy hook. Sonically “Breakthrough” is indebted to late 80s/early 90s dance pop and house that possesses a summery breeziness while being sweetly autumnal.
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