SoulTracks Lost Gem: Angie Fisher pays back the “IRS”

angiefisher
Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Angie Fisher Twitter

One song. That’s all it took for Hidden Beach Recordings CEO Steve McKeever, who launched the career of Grammy Award winner Jill Scott, to sign the next game-changing voice: Angie Fisher. And the powerful singer won our hearts back in 2015 with her blockbuster performance on her Hidden Beach debut song, “I.R.S,” which we were proud to premiere back then.

“I.R.S.” embodies a subject everyone can relate to: struggling to make ends meet. But in Fisher’s hands, the topic takes on a whole new meaning as her gritty, throbbing vocals wrenchingly etch the challenges many of us face on a daily basis.  “2000 bucks would save my life,” Fisher belts out against a spare, bluesy R&B track written by

Grammy-nominated producer B. Slade and produced by Ro and Sauce from the hit-making R&B group Somethin’ for the People. Then: “200 bucks would ease the pain / The I.R.S. is on my case / But I refuse to let them make me go insane.” Calling to mind such signature voices as Etta James and Janis Joplin, Fisher saves the best for last when she effortlessly sustains a high note at song’s end that must be heard to be believed. It’s like catching lightning in a bottle. And Fisher promises there’s more to come. “I have a whole lot to say through soulful music that comes from my heart. I want people to feel everything I sing.”

It’s tough not to feel vocals like Angie’s when you hear her on this single. In a fair world, this would have been an across the board smash, and maybe even a generational classic. It certainly received notice from soulheads around the world, but never achieved the status it deserved. So, we may be stretching it a bit by calling it a “Lost” Gem. But there is no question that it is a Gem.

Angie Fisher – “I.R.S.

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