"In a Girl's Paradise" by The Eyes of Isabel
Review
The latest Eyes of Isabel production to emerge from Woodbine Street is called "In a Girl's Paradise".
As ever, you can't really process it without going via the lens of the Andy McGeechan filmed accompanying video (how many of the local locations can you spot? I'm quite proud of my tally) which as they always do, either adds new dimensions to Tony Ally's original story, delves deeper or takes it into new directions. For example, Tony tells me that his concept was to look at the life of "a modern business woman": I think Andy broadens this out into a look at the lives of young women more generally, while other shots (e.g. of Tony) seem to sit outside the main narrative as such and pull it back towards more of a traditional music video at times and at others providing symbolic if not surreal counterpoints (Tony walks purposefully around Coombe Abbey. Tony stares intently at a tree in the Jephson Gardens).
Visually the star is Char Mantle-Hobday who rises to the challenge of interpreting the lyrics with a certain charisma. Musically Sam Thomas adds guitar while producer John Rivers provides backing vocals and dreamed up the Duran Duran/John Taylor bassline for the refrain. Generally, Tony says he was aiming for an "Arabic kind of feel to it" and Sam's little lines point this up succinctly.
My favourite aspect: well although I wonder just how much anyone choosing Mammon over art can be this "cosmopolitan" (not sufficient numbers in my own experience I'm afraid), I'm pleased to hear that Tony is more optimistic in this respect & his central figure "reads poetry or plays acoustic guitar"…. She seems much happier in pastoral settings than late night Earlsdon too.
