Blessed with a generational voice, Trondheim-native Isabelle Eberdean makes exquisitely crafted R&B-pop. Blending retro-soul textures and sprinklings of jazz with contemporary pop productions, she creates a sublime, genre-defying soundscape for the 2020s. Having grown up surrounded by classic jazz and soul music, Isabelle Eberdean’s sound takes timeless elements from artists like Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack and combines them with the slick modern flourishes of artists such as Snoh Aalegra and H.E.R.
In collaboration with producer Marius Elfstedt (Selmer, Mall Girl, Henrik Felipe), Isabelle Eberdean has put together a faultless collection of tracks, starting with debut single ’Focus on You’ in February and ending with her first EP in June. An eclectic homage to the musical flora she is influenced by, ‘Internal Monologue EP’ is danceable, chilled and intimate all at once, effortlessly traversing through pop, disco and jazz and perhaps best described in her own words as simply “a vibe”.
In debut ‘Focus on You’, Isabelle Eberdean describes the moment when you realise you’ve found that one person you can share everything with. “The song is about choosing to focus on the person you love, after perhaps taking them for granted. It’s then you just appreciate them for exactly the way they are.” A track bursting at the seams with sublime Jorja-esque grooves and Noughties-inspired Neo-soul harmonies, her mesmerisingly crystalline vocals weave their way through Eflstedt’s lucid production in a haze of besotted bliss.
With her sincere, personal lyrics, Isabelle Eberdean tackles the multi-faceted themes of first love and the everyday dilemmas of modern life, with words that pertinently reflect the sheer diversity of life surrounding us all. Having already been booked to play Trondheim Calling in 2021, Isabelle Eberdean is poised to become the new R&B star of Scandinavia, bringing a fresh new approach to a genre that is oft-imitated but rarely mastered. Until now.
‘Focus on You’ is out 26th February on Monstera Records.
