Aural Fix: María Isabel

María Isabel—a 25 year old Dominican American from New York—weaves poetry into music influenced by her Carribean roots. Her flowery lyrics, sung in both English and Spanish, express messages of romance, heartache, and transformative self-love. The timbre of her voice—soft and sultry—floats alongside merengue keys, sexy guitar arpeggios, and syncopated rhythms. Any one of María Isabel’s songs immediately transports the listener into a world of nostalgia and sentimental emotion. 

Debuting at the height of the pandemic, María Isabel has quickly made a name for herself as an artist to follow. Fluctuating between English and Spanish, Isabel’s music highlights the often underrepresented Afro-Latinx presence in the US and allows her to express herself fully. In the song “Salt Water,” Isabel sings, “De yo sin ti no quiero saber/ Yo sin ti no quiero existir/ There’s love in letting someone leave/ Believe lost things come back to me,” allowing the shift between languages to mark a point of transition in the melody. Her latest single, No Soy Para Ti, released in July with a tender music video, is a highly danceable track proclaiming the power of self-love. Courageous in her vulnerability and accompanied by grooves and upbeat rhythms, María Isabel’s music leaves listeners wanting more.

Be sure to catch María Isabel at Holocene on September 14!