The Louisville band IamIs is known for their lyrics (which are consistently thought-provoking), their genre-warping instrumental style and their self-classification as an “existential pop-rock” duo. All these aspects are significant, and they're keenly apparent in the band's third full-length album, Go Supernovae.
But perhaps the most memorable detail of the album release is the inclusion of a piece of technology that started to die off in 1993: the cassette tape.
“We still really value having a tangible object to represent the sounds of our music because we are visual artists as well as musicians,” says member Shawna Dellecave.
IamIs (pronounced “I am is,” which Dellecave explains is a one-word representation for all that is) started when she and Jason Cox began writing music and performing open mic nights along Bardstown Road about 16 years ago.
Their sound evolved into something that’s distinctly alternative, with an electronic beat and a little blues thrown in for good measure. While their music reaches in different directions, their lyrics consistently ask big questions about what it means to live.
“We work other jobs to exist financially, so amongst all that, always on our mind is making art and expressing ourselves creatively," Dellecave says. “So that’s the existential part -- we are always contemplating those ideas and, for me, writing the lyrics of the songs are the best way to express the ideas when they come up in my work-life, in my relationships, all those other avenues.”
While the word “existentialism” may conjure images of a freshman philosophy class (remember Friedrich Nietzsche?), IamIs approaches these themes with a light touch. Take the song “Lead Hands” from Go Supernovae:
“I think that the songs are compelling because they have a pop feel, especially the first side of the cassette,” Dellecave says.
That brings us back to the cassette tape, which was an idea that came about in 2013, when Dellecave applied for a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women to assist with the release of the new album.
She originally wanted to release Go Supernovae on CD.
“I received feedback that compact disc was maybe an antiquated way of sharing music, so that got us thinking about alternative ways to still release a product, a tangible item, that also included music,” Dellecave says.
The album release includes the cassette, download card and limited edition postcard set. Each postcard represents a song on the album and includes original artwork, lyrics and song chord structure. In an era of exclusive digital downloads, which are both immediate and of high sound quality, this move by IamIs is one that is pretty unorthodox -- which ultimately feeds back into the overall theme of the album.
“The idea of the album is to ‘go for it,’ Dellecave says. "You know, whatever it is you want to achieve in life or be -- do it and go.”
Go Supernovae will be released on July 2. More information can be found here.
