North East singer-songwriter Isabel Maria turns self-sabotage into something beautifully cinematic on new single ‘Ruin’.
Following spring EP ‘Because I Care’, the track retains the piano-led songwriting and intimate lyricism that have become central to her sound while pushing them somewhere noticeably darker. Rumbling, dramatic choruses crash against breathy passages that feel almost whispered into the our ear, giving ‘Ruin’ an enticing push-and-pull between vulnerability and menace.
Appropriately, the song began life as an idea about her dislike of horror films. As she continued writing, that concept evolved into an exploration of relationships and the tendency to transform somebody you love into the villain as a way of protecting yourself from potential heartbreak.
Dark, dramatic and deliciously uneasy, ‘Ruin’ opens an exciting new dimension to her songwriting to date.