Isaac Dunbar

Isaac Dunbar merges elements of alt-pop, smooth R&B, and woozy dance music into his musically whimsical, lyrically earnest songs. He released his debut EP, balloons don’t float here, as a high schooler in 2019, leading to his major-label debut, isaac’s insects, the following year. His fourth straight EP, Banish the Banshee, included the original single “Tainted Love.”
Hailing from Barnstable, Massachusetts, Dunbar first started learning the music production trade as a preteen, when he was inspired by the music of Madeon, whom he knew to be one of the producers of Lady Gaga’s Artpop album. He tried to reproduce some of that record’s songs while learning about synthesizers and music theory from free online video tutorials. An Italian music blog shared his track “Pharmacy” in 2017, and by the end of 2018, songs like “Freshman Year” and “Blonde” were being featured on popular New York- and Los Angeles-based music sites and radio shows.
In July 2019, a then-16-year-old Dunbar released his debut EP, balloons don’t float here. Within a couple months, he was touring with girl in red, and that October, he signed with RCA Records. A month later, he appeared on MTV’s PUSH Live concert showcase. His RCA debut, the isaac’s insects EP, followed in April 2020. One of its singles, “Makeup Drawer,” was a song he wrote when he was 14 about his experiences with homophobia. Another EP, evil twin, arrived in early 2021 and included the single “love, or the lack thereof.” Dunbar’s fourth EP and third for RCA, May 2022′s Banish the Banshee, was accompanied by “Tainted Love,” an original song that borrowed its chords from Erik Satie’s Trois Gymnopedies. ~ Marcy Donelson