Iris - Crazy

I get a lot of music sent to me daily. And sometimes it takes time to sort through it all and pick the songs that mean the most to me in order to write about them. If you've been around for any time at all, you know one of my favorite auditory qualities is how a vocalist's voice comes across. The more unique the voice, the more I'm apt to enjoy it. I think it's because unique voices are fewer and far between and they help the artist stand apart from the masses and in a world of bedroom producers, the masses are getting larger and larger. So imagine my surprise when the newest single from Iris, a New Jersey based singer/songwriter slid across my desk and her smoky, sultry voice that's reminiscent of Stevie Nicks swept me off my feet.

"Crazy" is a beautifully, heartbreaking single about love that harkens back to the fourties with it's slow and languid production. Like music from that era, this song spends it's time focusing on the lyrics and vocal performance rather than over the top production. I could easily see this song being played in a smoky, blues club or a USO tour where people are slow dancing and falling in love all over again. That feeling when all your insides are in knots and your palms are sweaty and all you can think about is them. "I'm not crazy. I'm just crazy about you", she says and so many people have been in that place and the universal feeling that this song evokes is strong and powerful. I think back to a time in my life when it just clicked and love fell into place and everything made sense. Iris has a voice that's beautiful in it's simplicity. I checked out the acoustic version of this song and her control is remarkable. If you look how far she's sitting from the microphone, she loses no sound and her voice is still clear and crisp. That's a sign that this isn't over produced and that she's actually delivering a stellar performance.

Her voice just wraps around you, holds you close and you close your eyes and take it all in. You get lost in how she's placing her syllables and the story she's creating. It's one of the coolest songs I've heard in a long time and I'm honestly kind of crazy over it. If you don't feel something after hearing this song, we need to take a trip to the wizard and check on your heart, there Tin Man. She's a helluva performer and I dig the hell out of her.