top of page
Writer's pictureBUZZ LA

Shed the Negativity in Hailey MacIsaac's, "Stay Away!"



24-year-old, up and coming Hailey MacIsaac is a Pop singer-songwriter from a small island off the east coast of Canada.

She has won multiple awards over the course of her career, most recently in the Electronic Recording of the Year category for her 2020 single ‘Down2U,’ following her thrice nominated 2019 independent album, ‘In a Dark Room.’

Hailey MacIsaac writes all of her own music and creates along with her friend and producer

Bray Schurman, who can navigate himself around just about any instrument. Putting together the recently released album, ‘Poisonous,’ a 7 track project that centers her unique Pop sound around Pop-Punk, Rock, Rap, and Alternative influences for a dark, gritty, and powerful sound, she uses a mainstream technique to craft her very complex work in a way to be rivaled for an up-and-comer.

Placing our focus on the introductory single on ‘Poisonous,’ we come across the eclectic resonance of “Stay Away!.” There is an intriguing blend of musical elements that are remarkably balanced in the structure of this record. With various layers of analog and digital sounds capturing our full attention, we get lost in the seamless manner in which they soar through “Stay Away!.”


Hailey MacIsaac’s vocal performance is truly outstanding as she navigates around an ethereal complex of dimensions heard in the textured tones of her voice. Singing in an atmospheric realm when the mind-altering hook kicks in, we appreciate the fierce and blatant showcase of her lyrical motifs through her verses. Making “Stay Away!,” a level playing field of intricacy, there is much to feast upon in the raw display of energy.


What we admire the most about this record, has to be the way that she adapts to the song’s foreboding arrangement in a way that brings buoyancy to the darker undertones at hand. Sending us into a frenzy of awestruck, Hailey MacIsaac provides us with an otherworldly release as she dips into words like, ‘Snake but you never show. Dark grass like I never know.’ That’s how you know the talent before you has longevity.


Welcome to BuzzMusic Hailey, and a big congratulations to you on the release of ‘Poisonous.’ With this being your sophomore album, how have you found yourself growing as an artist from your previous album? Since the last record, In a Dark Room, I’ve really found myself growing in regards to what I want my sound and brand to be. The growth vocally from the last record, the work ethic, the way I think about music is a 180. We really wanted to bring more to the table all around with 'Poisonous.' In “Stay Away!,” Was there a particular moment that shaped such a specific series of lyrics heard in the track? We love your boisterous performance through texture and grit! Stay Away! Was inspired by a personal event for sure. I pretty much got to a point in my personal relationships, mostly with friends, where I had to really evaluate the people I was allowing into my space and why they were around. “Snake but you never show, dark grass like I never know, by the palm bite me when you go” for instance is definitely a metaphor for sometimes you don’t notice the snakes in the grass until it’s too late. Something that as an open person, I’m still trying to figure out. The song sonically was loosely inspired by The Weeknd. What was it like working with both Bray Schurman, and Mike Marra in order to bring the vision of this song, and album to life? Working with Bray is honestly second nature at this point. I think we allow each other massive amounts of creativity, which is hard to come by. I think we know what the other needs out of a price of music to be able to really make it work. Mike has helped us tremendously to bring the album to a radio-ready sound. We learn a lot from him. How does “Stay Away!,” set the tone for the rest of the songs to come on ‘Poisonous?' Stay Away! really ties some themes in from In a Dark Room, and as the album plays through, you’re really able to see some of those old ways disintegrating. It’s a really liberating thing for me to be able to evolve as a person and artist. What's next for you? What’s next for me for sure be a big move coming up to a bigger part of the country by the fall. I live on an island, so that definitely needs to change. A string of singles for the year and more networking are in the works. Continuing to evolve as an artist and figure out what I want to say next.


Comments


bottom of page