Izzy Outerspace surfs serotonin swells on blissfully lucid 'Dreamstate'
Both live and on record, Izzy Outerspace has a particular knack for remarkably intimate and gorgeously composed songcraft that embraces a unique brand of psychedelic weightlessness and the sparse, lyrical heft of a natural poet. On her latest release, Dreamstate, Izzy Outerspace seeks solace in the sanctuary of sleep and discovers the inner strength to face a new dawn with clear eyes and an open heart.
Dreamstate represents and expansion for Isabelle Baumgartner as Izzy Outerspace; building upon the jangly, introspective elements of her earlier releases with lush arrangements that bloom and billow like cottony cumulonimbus against startlingly blue skies, shot through with prismatic flashes of lucid clarity balanced on the hypnagogic precipice between wakefulness and slumber. In these moments emotions and memories emerge from the deepest recesses of the psyche to mingle with the last fleeting vestiges of consciousness, hovering spectres rendered nearly tangible before imminent surrender to the abyss. It is here that the mind offers an opportunity to confront and reconcile with our truest self, to make peace with the tumultuousness of existence and find comfort in making sense of the unknowable.
Produced by Jeff Schroeder and recorded at Cave Studio with mixing and mastering by Josiah Mazzaschi, Dreamstate opens with the blissful somnambulism of “Beautiful Blur,” incorporating the confectionary psychedelia of Sugar Candy Mountain with the playfully breezy reverb of Mac DeMarco. Baumgartner’s minimalist prose shines, taking a confessional stance that brilliantly bears a considerable quantity of emotional substance in each carefully constructed syllable and corresponding chord. Built upon a euphoric guitar lead and towering percussion, “Riptide” is imbued with cinematic drama heightened by Baumgartner’s soaring vocals that embody the untethered sensation of being swept away in the wake of devastating loss and the unrelenting freedom of the resulting emotional catharsis.
Slipping below the surface, “Dreamstate” offers solace with a weightlessly hypnotic presence that ebbs and flows on swelling waves of frosty synth and shuffling percussion, succumbing to vital restfulness tightly bundled within bales of quilted reassurance. The cycle could have been completed here, suspended in the gauzy miasma of an eternal dream, willingly disconnected from the noise and clutter of the day. But like the inevitable breaking of the dawn, Baumgartner closes the EP with a notable selection by influential indie standard bearers Galaxie 500. Softening the original’s rough edges without blunting the overall impact, “Tugboat” glows with a warm resilience and the confidence borne of recognizing the validity of one’s desires that neatly and fulfillingly concludes Dreamstate’s narrative arc.
On June 28 The Echo hosted Dum Dum Fest 2025, an annual celebration of independent arts and talent spanning genres and mediums showcasing the next wave of underground expression from LA and beyond. Nestled beneath a canopy of foliage and backlit by the glowing ambiance of the final moments of daytime’s radiance, Izzy Outerspace conjured an ethereal sensation of real magic that set the air trembling with each reverberating chord. The dreamy compositions blossomed in a live setting, attracting bobbing festival goers like so many dusty-winged moths fluttering in unison around the electric warmth of Baumgartner’s magnetic incandescence.
Clifton Weaver laid down invitingly comfortable baselines that rolled in time with tightly rendered percussion by Joey Data, crafting a rhythmic mise-en-scène that set the stage within which Baumgartner shone, resplendent in metallic purple as the protagonist in heartrending tales of love and loss and hope set to the sound of soothing serotonin psychedelia. Tracks from Dreamstate comingled with earlier entries in her catalog, and new tracks were introduced alongside into a comprehensive overview of Baumgartner as an artist and Izzy Outerspace as an outlet for a burgeoning creative awakening.
As the gloaming extended its umbral tendrils between the vines, the band’s final notes pierced the veil of the supernatural, returning all in attendance to the waking world refreshed and unburdened, descending back to earth after glittering, together, among the cosmos with Izzy Outerspace.
Dreamstate is available via Bandcamp and on limited CD. Stream the EP on Spotify and follow Izzy Outerspace on Instagram.