Rock and R&B may seem like they are on opposite sides in music, but King Isis takes control in their newest EP, titled Shed. Like the title, the songs represent transformation and cutting off negative weight in one’s life. Elements of jazz and blues hint at the inspiration in sound King Isis has found since releasing music starting from 2022. 

“POISON” opens the tracklist and is highly influenced by Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera, like the rest of the EP. What makes this track resemble the book is the idea of poison – aka snake venom is representing the repression of oneself. King Isis sings “I feel poison / I am poison / It’s taking control” is the blatant obviousness to the feeling of that stagnant energy, but the instrumentals themselves are heavy metal guitar and sound effects to the singing, which make them opposite of one another. 

Still within the realm of a ‘serpent’ is the track and single released last year, “MAKE IT UP,” but angled towards being stuck. King Isis uses electric guitar and drum instrumentals in contrast to the smoothness of King Isis’s vocals, like the slyness of a snake’s slither. Again, this song has darkness and heaviness like “POISON” had but with a slower beat that matches extremely well with King Isis. The lyrics “Still see you in my rearview / No, I can’t keep running from / Release you, I still bleed you / Hold me like another crutch” are a clear telling of the continuous suffocation to yourself and from someone else. 

Lyrically, “333” is the strongest track as it tackles the rediscovery of a loving relationship to oneself and expanding that into spirituality with the familiarity of R&B. This is the song for when someone is finding the parts of themselves and learning to appreciate every inch. 333 itself is also an angel number in spirituality that is meant to signify a positive affirmation to oneself. With King Isis’ vocal effects and slow moving instrumentals, it sounds and feels like a spiritual awakening throughout the track. 

“MONKI” was a single that was released just prior to Shed’s release. This track is also about spirituality, but on a different level compared to “333.” This one is more about your true self in relation to the world around that self. “Baby won’t you lay me down / I’m begging for your mercy now / Oh spare me from those awful sounds / Oh baby can he save you now” is the story-telling of accepting all these parts of yourself, and being done with the confinement. 

“NVR RLLY” ties the EP together and is a strong last-tracklist song. King Isis uses the instrumental elements of classic rock, the guitar, and the smoothness once again from their singing. There is also strong lyricism in this piece as well, like the lines “You always hold me in the wrong ways / I never know the things you might say / And now it’s colder when you touch me / I know you never really loved me” for the point of a relationship that hit its expiration, and no longer had a strong effect.  

Shed is made up of five tracks that King Isis has curated specifically off their familiar sound. The importance of showcasing the maturity in sound here, from the meshing of all these moving parts make King Isis an anticipated artist for the future of music.