Jump on Izzie’s Caravan and Get ‘Lost’

Rambunctious blues rock four-piece Izzie’s Caravan tone down their rowdy ways with their latest single ‘Lost’, in a display of the band’s versatility whilst slowly and cautiously unveiling their hidden depths.

The latest release from their 2021 full-length album Blow The Lid, ‘Lost’ sees the band – led by the enigmatic guitarist known simply as ‘Izzie’ – take a step back from the riff-ready bluesy sound they’ve exhibited in the series of singles leading up to the album’s release. 

Whilst the song’s subject matter isn’t blatant, it paints a picture of pain, regret, and indecision. In many ways it feels like an ode to Izzie’s rekindled love affair with the guitar: “The sun won’t stop shining / they say you’ve left your mark behind. It’s almost as though he’s conversing directly to his own reflection, consoling himself throughout the song’s duration. It could be Izzie that’s ‘Lost’, and if that’s what he’s tentatively suggesting, it could be his relationship with his guitar that lit his darkened path.

Get ‘Lost’ With Izzie’s Caravan’

It’s not Izzie’s first brush with the music industry, in fact, he’s had a tumultuous, decades-long connection with the industry whilst performing in bands. His previous group The Deep Impacters had released several records back in the early 2000’s, though the expectations and up-and-downs saw Izzie grow disillusioned, eventually disbanding The Deep Impacters and giving up the guitar, seldom playing his beloved instrument even in the comfort of his own company. Anyone who plays and practices an instrument understands the deep attachment that develops when playing it, and detaching yourself is almost as though you’re shutting off a section of your personality. A reconnection with a chosen instrument can revitalise a person, and that’s what appears to have happened with Izzie. 

He cites his primary influences as Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Stevie Ray, Eric Clapton, even referring to himself as a “poor man’s Buddy Guy or Lightnin’ Hopkins”, but on ‘Lost’, it’s his affection for Red Hot Chili Pepper’s John Frusciante that radiates – the delicate, longing lead guitar lines only add further gravitas to the track’s soul searching and self-analysis. 

These classic rock icons evidently mean so much to Izzie, influencing his decision to even pick up the guitar in the first place some years ago, but he’s clearly absorbed sounds from further afield than simply blues and classic rock along his journey. Particularly on ‘Lost, there are echoes of introspective 90s indie bands like Eels and Neutral Milk Hotel bleeding through his sombre but hopeful fretwork.

“Don’t grieve / I’ll save you the pain”, he sings in a double-tracked, muted growl. A growl that fits somewhere on the Venn diagram between Tom Petty and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters – it’s pained, it’s powerful, and it’s punctuated poignantly by the gospel-like choral vocal that lifts his lyricism to celestial heights. 

The line that resonates most in ‘Lost’ is: “Don’t look for the star that never shines.” Keep on the path that feels right, even though you might feel lost, or if you feel you’re heading in the wrong direction from time to time. That’s no longer the case for Izzie, with his guitar in tow, as he’s firmly back on track.

 
Keep up with Izzie’s Caravan HERE.