Live Review: IYES 'So Crazy'

IYES (pronounced ‘eyes’) were destined to make electronic dance music. They met in the creative hub of Brighton where Josh Christopher (music and vocals), who at that time fronted the edgy outfit known as 000, was hosting a drinks party. A friend brought along Melis Soyaslanová (music and melodies) who was a student at the Institute of Modern Music, where she’d been making avant-garde music for years.

Their first track together, Lighthouse, notched up 10,000 listens and a bunch of rave reviews. They followed up with a couple of other tracks, but then things went quiet.

No bother though, as they’re back after nearly half a year of hush. The duo recently played at the hippie-tastic Secret Garden Party festival in the rolling English countryside, and are working towards finalising their new EP, Part One.

‘So Crazy’ opens with a weird, kind of terrifying crescendo of synth and noise and samples. Then unexpectedly it gives way to quiet vocals, muted against washed out synth arpeggios and twisted rhythms. It’s a little scary as they sing high-pitched ‘crazy’s at us, all the while loopy keys dart up and down octaves.

The hook ‘so crazy’ is repeated around a frenetic fluctuating synthy accordion-type instrument, the madness contrasting with Christopher’s earlier admission of ‘let’s wear black, let’s meditate’. They’re a bit all over the place, caught up in an emotional dance floor delirium.

It’s a swirling rainbow hued dance number, with glitchy beats that collide and batter one another – it’s not all about conflict though, as the duo take it in turns to woo and seduce with their crystalline vocals, showing that you’ve got to be it for the long haul despite how enraged another half can make you feel.

IYES have been at this for a few years now, so it’s no surprise that the track is primed for both radio and future remixes. ‘So Crazy’ is the lead single from their new EP, Part One, which is expected to be released very soon via Love By Mistake.

Words by Katie Rowley

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