Today you find your reviewer in a local cafe armed with a glass of water and a laptop! It is a hot and uncomfortably sticky day, but an afternoon when a bit of smooth jazz would be welcome. Browsing the magazine email brought me to just such a potential release from ISQ, a jazz/pop artist, with ISQ being the original project of London-based vocalist and songwriter Irene Serra.
The Press Release:
London-based vocalist and songwriter ISQ returns on 17th July with ‘On Shoulders of Giants’, the new single taken from her upcoming album ‘The Silence is Deafening’ out this October.
Set against ISQ’s genre-blurring sound, the soothing new single is a soft alt-pop tune that sits comfortably alongside the wider themes of her forthcoming album “The Silence is Deafening,” marking her second release since lead track “Animal.” Born from trips home to visit loved ones in Italy, it traces a journey from a specific place to a wider idea, moving from personal reflection into a meditation on legacy, humility and the famous phrase often attributed to Isaac Newton – “if I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
ISQ: “What started as a love letter to the mountains gradually became something much bigger. Walking paths carved out by generations before me, I found myself thinking less about the landscape and more about the people who shape our own journeys. The older I get, the more convinced I become that none of us arrives anywhere entirely by ourselves.”
She explains: “I was reading one of Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files while writing the song, and he made a point that really stayed with me. When we’re young, we often imagine we’re creating something completely original. As we get older, we realise we’re building on ideas, stories and wisdom that have existed long before us. That, to me, is what the song is really about.”
After eight years away, ISQ returns with the meticulously created “The Silence is Deafening” (out 23rd October) marking a significant shift in her sound – darker, guitar-driven and cinematic – sitting somewhere between noir jazz and Massive Attack. It is a record preoccupied with women’s lives; the ones lived loudly and the ones lived in careful silence:
“The songs on this album were a long time in the making,” Irene explains. “This is my attempt to make sense of a shifting world and of the elusive human condition – its unexpected beauty and moments of light, alongside the sadness, the quiet and the everyday violence it contains. It is a tribute to my mother’s resilience and to the countless women whose stories echo her own.”
Vocalist and songwriter Irene Serra has spent over two decades building something quietly singular within the UK’s contemporary music scene. Known more by word of mouth than by headline, ISQ is her original compositional project – music that reveals its full weight only in the rooms it was made for: intimate clubs, jazz venues and concert halls where Irene’s presence and the band’s collective intensity can truly breathe.
This single came out on July 17, 2026, so is available on all streaming platforms now.
I was right about this being a song for a sultry summer afternoon, although I am missing the hammock that really ought to go with it! On Shoulders of Giants carries the listener away from the bustle of everyday life and into the mountains, to a place where the stars seem closer, the air is cleaner, and there is space to reflect. There is a quiet muse within the lyrics as the narrator searches not only for inspiration but perhaps for a deeper understanding of herself and those who have shaped her journey.
Musically, the song is just as engaging as its message. Gentle harmonies, tasteful guitar work and Irene Serra’s warm, expressive vocal combine to create something that feels effortlessly elegant. It is easy to imagine this becoming a favourite for late-evening listening, perhaps with Smooth Radio providing the soundtrack as the sun finally slips below the horizon.
Music has always been dictated by mood, and this one found me at exactly the right moment. Rather than demanding attention, it gently earns it, gradually wrapping itself around the listener until the world seems to slow down for four minutes. That is no small achievement.
ISQ may describe On Shoulders of Giants as a reflection on legacy and those who came before us, but it also succeeds as a beautifully crafted piece of contemporary jazz-infused pop in its own right. If this is a sign of what awaits on The Silence is Deafening later this year, then October is shaping up to be a month well worth anticipating.
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You can stream music from ISQ here
Artist website here
By Stevie Ritson
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