Isaac Dunbar

Isaac Dunbar fuses alt-pop, smooth R&B, and off-kilter dance music into whimsical yet lyrically sincere compositions. While still in high school, he issued his first EP, balloons don't float here, in 2019, which paved the way for his major-label debut, isaac's insects, the next year. Tracks such as "love, or the lack thereof" and "fan behavior" from his third EP, evil twin, released in 2021, amassed tens of millions of streams and signaled a shift toward more outgoing sonic directions. Following the 2022 release of Banish the Banshee, he returned in 2024 with the exuberant, groove-driven single "Apartment A."

Raised in Barnstable, Massachusetts, after being born in Rhode Island, Dunbar began teaching himself music production as a preteen, motivated by Madeon, whom he recognized as one of the producers behind Lady Gaga's Artpop album. Using free online video tutorials to study synthesizers and music theory, he attempted to replicate selections from that album. In 2017 an Italian music blog spotlighted his track "Pharmacy," and by late 2018 cuts including "Freshman Year" and "Blonde" gained placements on prominent New York- and Los Angeles-based outlets and broadcasts.

At sixteen, he unveiled balloons don't float here in July 2019. Within months he joined girl in red on tour, and that October he inked a deal with RCA Records before dropping the standalone single "onion boy," a lighthearted number addressing bad breath and pretense that drew millions of streams. He performed on MTV's PUSH Live showcase the following month. The isaac's insects EP appeared in April 2020; one of its singles, "Makeup Drawer," originated when Dunbar was fourteen and recounted encounters with homophobia. Also that year, "God, This Feels Good" featured in an episode of the Hulu series Love, Victor. His next EP, evil twin, surfaced in early 2021, its singles "fan behavior" and "love, or the lack thereof" again accumulating tens of millions of streams.

Banish the Banshee, his fourth EP and third for RCA, arrived in May 2022 and contained "Tainted Love," an original piece whose chords drew from Erik Satie's Trois Gymnopedies. In 2024 Dunbar issued "Apartment A," a track straddling theatrical art-pop and propulsive dance-rock.