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Sometimes the mind is wanting and willing to allow your imagination to produce poetic cope, a fantasy that lets you de-escalate romantic grief, heals wounds too particular to mend otherwise. On the latest Isabel Dumaa single, that rounds into form as "James Dean" – a longing, self pleading song about a love interest not sticking to the plot. Always cinematic in her look and music, the star quality alone hasn’t prevented some sonic speed bumps to overcome, and much of her newer releases in anticipation of her upcoming album are paced differently, a little less prosaic joy and more introspective. Wanting to find out about her shifts, lioness graces and more we had Isabel join us for some tea:

OnesToWatch: Who are you? 

Isabel Dumaa: I’m Isabel Dumaa, I’m a singer-songwriter. 

Why are you a singer-songwriter? 


I pretty much have been singing since before I could talk. Genuinely, I don't remember a time when I was ever not singing. My whole life, this is all that I've ever wanted to do. I can't imagine doing anything else. I adore music. I think music is the most powerful thing in the world and I feel so lucky that this is what I get to do. 


I concur. But life is all about unforeseen events – what if your remarkable musical talent was removed from you. What would you be doing? 


This is always a question that I feel like I would get asked growing up, like what's your plan B? I would always just say, I don't have a plan B. I really can't imagine. People would then go down the route of, what if you get in a car accident and your vocal cords get severed or what if you can't hear anymore? What if you can't do anything? And without being morbid, I just can't even imagine what life would be like without that. God forbid, if something ever happened and I could not sing or hear or whatever would prevent me from making music, I would still do something in the arts. Art is just such a beautiful thing. I love the process of creating and consuming all kinds of art. I would find something to do. Or I would be a baker. 

Baking is a kind of art. Also a science. Let's talk about songwriting. When did you confidently write a song that felt like you were an artist? 

I honestly feel like the earlier songs that I wrote were my most completely “me” songs, because I was young and so I'd never talked to anyone about songwriting. I'd never studied songwriting. I didn't know anything about it, so it was very much me writing completely from myself. Then, you grow up and enter the industry and learn things from being in sessions, and all of a sudden it’s less instinct and more knowing that this chord progression makes sense together and such. The really early days, I didn't know what I was doing, and therefore, they felt like my truest songs. They were terrible, I was like 10. But, there was a beauty in them. It’s interesting, you know, there’s the question of, can you teach art? And there is an element of learning what works and what doesn’t work. But at the same time, so much of creating is just whatever’s coming from your soul and from your heart. 

Beautifully put. Therein lies the challenge, right? The more you learn, the more you have to start being self-selecting. Let's get into your most recent writing. You’re releasing an EP! Are these songs from a current or past era? 

These songs are the most authentic music to myself that I've ever put out. I went on a bit of a journey with songwriting and I’ve had to go away from myself to be able to come back. I remember when writing a lot of the songs on this project, I just kept having the feeling of, “This is it.” This is what I felt like when I was writing when I was 10 and this is how a song is supposed to feel when it's me. I feel very grateful for that feeling, and for the collaborators that I found who allowed me to do that. But I am not a fast writer. I wish I was one of those people who could be like, I wrote a song in 45 minutes, but it takes me about 4 months to write a song. So as much as I want to say that these are new songs – because they are – I've been sitting on them for a little while. They're from a time in my life that I don't think I am presently in, but still feel very true to who I am. 

We're always changing, but what would you say you've learned about yourself in this process? 

I've learned a lot about myself in the past 2 years. I feel things very deeply and so I am very good at protecting my peace. A couple years ago, I just realized that I’d been running on autopilot – just living and working, but not going too deeply into anything good or bad – because when I feel deeply, it’s so consuming. I realized that’s not a way to live life, and it’s not a way to be an artist. So, I got hurt 2 years ago, worse than I had in a really long time, and I think it just really rocked me. It really is true what they say: when you're at your lowest, that's what prompts the most growth. So it showed me cracks that I had that I wasn't aware of and forced me to look at myself in ways that maybe I wouldn't if I wasn’t feeling sad. I learned a lot. I feel like such a stronger, more confident, better person for it. In terms of writing, very similarly,
I think that I had lost my sense of self-confidence a little bit for a while there. I've always been a very self-assured, self-confident person, but getting broken, getting knocked down, it prompted me to be able to find my voice and find myself again. 


Beautiful, and great introspection. Let's talk about the single. So why is this the single that you want to anticipate your EP? 


Funnily enough, we were gonna have a different single be the next single, and then I changed it last minute. This next single is one that I felt might get lost within the EP a bit, and I wanted to give it its proper moment to shine. I was with my family a few weekends ago and played them the whole EP, and everyone was just like, this is my favorite song on the whole EP, which was nice to hear. So that just reinforced my decision to put it out sooner. 

Thematically, what’s the EP about? 

Growing pains. It's called Reverie, because reverie is a daydream state in which you lose yourself in your mind a little bit – which I fall prey to very easily. I spent so much time in my head, to the point where I was just going up against myself and things that weren't really there in front of me. I found the word diaphanous when I was writing this project, which led me to reverie, but diaphanous essentially is a very sheen, thin, delicate veil, which normally is used to describe a dress. That to me was the word that just encapsulated the songs that I was trying to create, songs that are very intimate and authentic, while still daydreaming and floating. It also doesn’t evoke sadness as much as the feeling of being lost and then finding your voice. I think a lot of that came from me spending so much time in my head. 

Well, I understand now why your music resonates because I think a lot of us are feeling lost. Do you have an ambition for this work? Is there something you hope to take from it personally? Hope the audience takes from it? 

I've poured more of myself into this work than I have my previous, and I feel very proud of that. So I'm very excited to show it to people. It's been a while since I've been releasing music, and a lot of that was just because I'd spent so much time writing and tucked away, trying new things and figuring out what I wanted to say and sound like. So, I hope people like it. Part of the reason I love music is that I know firsthand how hearing your feelings resonating in someone’s words is so validating. Although these songs are from my personal, unique experience, everything that we feel, everyone else is feeling it in one way or another. I'm excited to hear people's thoughts and see what they think. 

What is the most fun you've had in the past year? 


I opened for Sam Smith and in their residency that they did in San Francisco. It was at The Castro Theater, which is this big historic theater in, and they were renovating it into a music venue. And so when I was home over Christmas break – I grew up in San Francisco – I saw that they were doing the residency there and I just was praying and doing anything I could to be a part of it. I feel so unbelievably grateful that I got to be part of it. I grew up going to that theater.
I grew up listening to Sam Smith. The last show that we had, my whole family was there. My cousins were there. My family friends were there. My therapist came to one of the shows. Everyone in my life got to come out, and it was so full circle to get to be in the theater where I spent so much time growing up and getting to sing. I had such a moment of joy and happiness of doing what I love surrounded by the people that I love. I was very grateful to Sam for that opportunity. And then my 2nd answer is about my favorite people in my entire life, my cousins. I do not laugh harder than when I'm with my cousins. I have gotten to spend a lot of time with them this year and we all just had a weekend together a few weeks ago, which genuinely gives me full body aches from laughing harder than I've ever laughed in my entire life. 

If you could put together your own festival, who would you love to perform with? 

Number one is Ryan Beatty. He's one of my favorite artists in the entire world. I would just love to get to see him play and getting to play with him would be… I think I probably would play the show and then die happy. Also, Hozier. I've been lucky enough to see him a few times as well. I adore him. I look up to him so much and I think that he just has the most incredible voice ever and so much heart and soul in his music. Doechii, too. Olivia Rodrigo. I know she just put on her Daisy Chain, but as another young female artist, I look up to her so much and I also am just the biggest fan of her music.

If your cousins ambush you at your home, and they’re hungry, can you whip up a meal and what would it be? Yes, I can whip up a meal? 


First off, I would bake them some cinnamon buttermilk muffins, because it is fall, which is my favorite time of the entire year, and fall baking is about to start. 

Break down that recipe. 


Well, it's a buttermilk muffin that you add some nutmeg to and some other fall spices. Once they're still warm, dip it in melted butter, dip it in cinnamon sugar. Deliciousness. 


That could be a mic drop, really. 


Also, I'm making a little chicken cutlet for everyone. That's easy. Tend to have chicken in the fridge. Panko sitting in the back of a pantry somewhere. Plus, a good hearty salad. Maybe throw some potatoes on the side. Why not? 


If I were to I find you at your most relaxed and zen state. Where are you? What are you doing? 

Gardening with my mom or my cousins. 

What's in the garden? 

My mother has quite the green thumb, and flowers are just one of my favorite things in the entire world. Every time I'm in the presence of flowers, I'm just like, this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my entire life and I want to stare at it and just feel so centered and happy. I do think there's something to say about the tactile aspect of gardening, where you're not really thinking about anything else and you're so present in connecting with the earth. And then getting to do that with people that I love, that's probably me at my most zen, happy state. 

Beautiful. Last couple of questions. I would love a non-music recommendation. Something to watch, something to read, something to do, something to eat, whatever it is. 

I have been rewatching Derry Girls. It's a little comedy about Northern Ireland in the 90s. That's a fun one.
I would also recommend this newspaper that I'm subscribed to called the Petit 3, which rocks. It comes every month and it's all these articles about history and culture and art and beautiful things and life. It's so perfectly curated and I love it so much. Those would be my 2 recommendations. 

You can probably anticipate what's coming. I'm gonna ask you for a music recommendation.

I've been listening to a lot of Patty Griffith lately, who I always am surprised to know that she's not a bigger name in the folk scene.I love her writing so much. I think she has the most beautiful voice, so that would be a music rec for people. I know I already said Ryan Beatty, but I will say him, because I feel like he's kind of like a, if you know you know, but so many people don't know, and they need to. 

Lastly, I just want to end on your words, anything you want to share, advice, counsel, jokes, humor, shout outs, hi moms and cousins. 

Hello, mothers and cousins. Hello to the whole world. I'm not a joke person, I wish I had jokes just on rotation. Thank you so much for having me. I feel so grateful that I get to be here and that I get to do this and then I get to talk with you.