“Songbird” by Izzy Heltai, is a beautiful Folk masterpiece from his forthcoming LP Father! Father is a coming-of-age story, a collection of songs about coming to terms with adulthood, self-worth, and identity. Izzy, who is trans, offers a unique view on the complicated process of becoming who you’re meant to be. Izzy’s voice is incredibly rich, he has one of the best Folk voices you could ever hear! we have enjoyed listening to his charming vocal performance until the last second and we are totally hooked on his vocals. The lyrics are original and well written and the melodies are catchy and so enjoyable. Izzy Heltai has so much talent and he is definitely a name we should remember because his music will always have us hooked.
WHAT THE ARTIST SAYS ABOUT THIS SONG:
“Songbird” was inspired by an incident while Izzy was on tour; “I was in Pittsburgh one night in early June. At this point, I’d been touring for about a month and a half and was pretty drained. As a rule of thumb, many of us roadtrippers, car campers, or just plain ole’ masochists know that it’s Walmart’s common practice to allow overnight parking for the purposes of a good night’s rest. This was the night I learned it’s apparently not a nationwide policy.” He got kicked out of the parking lot by a security guard–it ended well though, and he woke up with this song in his head.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
With brutal honesty towards himself and forgiveness for those around him, Izzy Heltai’s music walks the elusive line between confessional and relatable. On his debut album, “Father,” Heltai dives deep into his fascination with human relationships, and specifically the way that those relationships change and reorganize themselves over time.
Originally from Brookline, Massachusetts, Heltai is the child of two mathematicians and first-generation European immigrants. “My parents worked really hard in very secure jobs, and I think they always wanted us to be able to do whatever we wanted with our lives,” he says. Heltai started on classical piano, but soon became fascinated by folk singers, and picked up the guitar. Inspired by Joan Baez and Simon and Garfunkel, he started obsessing over songwriting as a teenager, and soon realized that it was “the only thing I really wanted to do with myself… You know how a lot of musicians say ‘I listen to tons of different music’? Well, I really only like listening to sad songs” he laughs.
Heltai moved from Boston to the small town of North Adams, Massachusetts at the age of eighteen, and took up residence in his friend’s closet for one hundred dollars a month rent. “I really fell in love with the small-town lifestyle. In North Adams, there is a lot of space both physically and mentally to slow down and create, and you don’t need to be working all the time to get by financially, so people have time to freelance, and be outside, to get to know one another.”
Now, at 23 years old, Heltai sees his own coming of age reflected in the album, which includes songs written over the past four years. “A lot of this record is about seeing memories and situations turn to grey, where black and white previously existed,” says Heltai, “finding myself as an adult has largely been about how the people who have always been there for me can fit into my life in a new way.” On the title track, “Father”, he sings “It’s been a long time / since I felt like I was worth much/ more than any other/ reflected in my father’s eyes… And I could use a good touch/ and maybe even your love/ to help me figure out / what I’ve been trying to tell you for years.”
On the album’s opening track “To Talk About Yourself”, Heltai, who is trans, looks back at the way society fixates on his identity as the only story that he has to tell. The song’s opening melodic riff rings out with slow-burning, subtle tension as he sings “I’ve been thinking there’s a new way that I’d like / to be living free talking explaining all the things I survived” he sings “it’s got me fucked up I don’t know where I can go from here…it doesn’t pay the bills to talk about yourself.”
“Being trans is a part of me that is worth talking about” he explains, “It’s a really cool thing that happened in my life, and informed a lot of how I see the world and how I know myself, and how I reflect on things… but as a marginalized individual, there comes a point where you feel commodified and exploited for your identity, and I’ve always had a fear, as an artist with many stories to tell, that my being trans is the only aspect of my work that people would take interest in.”
Throughout the record, Heltai braves the exploration of not only interpersonal and societal relationships but also his own relationship to himself. On “Marching Song” Heltai recons with the ways that periods of depression have caused him to abandon those he loves. “I couldn’t tell you through the telephone / when you picked up I put it down / I don’t know why / I couldn’t tell you through the telephone / that I’m not myself, I’m not myself” he sings. “I think as I’ve grown up I’ve been able to realize that sometimes when your self worth is so low, you don’t think you can be worth anything to someone else, but that can actually cause you to hurt people that need you,” Haltai explains.
Father was recorded by Heltai’s longtime friend Andy Cass and produced by Sophie Buskin, whom Heltai met at the legendary Kerrville Folk Festival in Texas. The production is raw and full, with subtle harmonies and guitar lines weaving their way unexpectedly through the mix almost as if they were grown in the song. There is no sign of musical overthought, allowing Heltai’s emotional vocals to shine organically.
At a time when any conversation with a stranger can quickly become a sociopolitical battle, Heltai’s introspective and thought out songs are a breath of fresh air. With an overwhelming empathy for humanity, and willingness to search for personal responsibility, Heltai’s “Father” will not leave your heart or your ears unchanged.
