London-based vocalist and songwriter ISQ – Irene Serra – dropped her super new single “Animal” on Friday (22nd May) and the official video, the first track taken from her fifth album “The Silence is Deafening”, arriving 23rd October 2026 – her first LP in eight years.
The lead single is an alt-pop tune that draws on the tension between different generations; it sits with the complexity of a mother-daughter relationship. The clashes and the closeness, the misunderstandings that only years and perspective can untangle.
After eight years away, ISQ returns with “The Silence is Deafening” marking a shift in her sound – darker, guitar-driven and cinematic – sitting somewhere between alternative and Massive Attack. It is a record preoccupied with women’s lives; the ones lived loudly and the ones lived in careful silence.
Irene has spent more than two decades building something quietly singular within the UK’s contemporary music scene, and as ISQ she draws together a sophisticated jazz musicianship, alternative pop sensibilities and rich electronic textures.
The current line-up of Richard Sadler (bass), Chris Nickolls (drums/electronics) and Luca Boscagin (guitar) counts credits across Neil Cowley Trio, Andy Sheppard and Cinematic Orchestra among its members.
- Headline show: Crazy Coqs in London, Thursday 15th October 2026.
Photo by: Tatiana Gorilovsky
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