In today’s age, technology has flooded our lives with content. Caught in the mire are today’s musicians who champion an art form that’s more widely distributed than any other throughout human history. And we, more often than not, overlook the music created by unfamiliar faces because it’s challenging. We’d rather have an easy listen, a known quantity to skim through while we think about something else.

Hearing is easy, but listening is difficult. Welcome to “Why We Like It”, where we rebuke the trends in favor of thoughtful analysis and underknown sounds.

 Irma – “Venom of Angels”

Listen on:

• Spotify
• Apple Music

How We Found It

Born in Cameroon, based in France, Irma exemplifies the opportunity presented by the Internet to creators. Her YouTube covers from her bedroom earned her notoriety and later, a record deal. Her latest single found its way to our ears through our portal on SubmitHub and is a sample of her newest album entitled The Dawn.

Why We Like It

Artistic expression of a new beginning often evokes a feeling of serenity with us used to images of hatching eggs and rising suns to encapsulate the theme. “Venom of Angels” captures this serenity and builds on the foundation of its beauty. The title’s contradiction marks a transition from despair to elation, reading from left to right as Irma’s journey. “Venom of Angels” sees Irma grasp a glimmer of hope and pray for its growth, this exemplified in the opening lines:

Spit out your joy now/ All over me/ Venom of angels in a world of fleas/ I’ll go and sleep on your shadow/ When you’re away/ ‘Cause it smells like the dawn, the dawn of us/ It smells like the dawn, the dawn of us/ Around me” – Irma, “Venom of Angels.” (2020)

A tale of love finding its way to the darkest places of existence, the track is a signal of hope to all who hear it. As Irma begins to sing to her love, the passion in her words is feel stronger than ever. She sings “You’re my other side of the world/ The burning city where I’ll exude,” describing the peace she finds in this company. Irma’s largest strength is her ability to maintain a stunning vocal range while not letting her performance defer listener attention away from her poetic musings. “Venom of Angels” is a study of melody, Irma constantly finding the perfect rhythm to soundtrack her journey towards freedom, leaving room for passion and poetry. Instrumentally, the track is subtle in the way it wraps you into its warmth, introducing sparse piano chords and angelic strings on top of the harmonic background vocals and swinging drums. “Venom of Angels” is the new beginning we all need.

From Irma

I came up with this open tuned tapping loop one day, while practicing and it immediately resonated with a text I wrote called “Black Sun”. It was about the chaotic moment when you try to free yourself from your own barriers and self loathing. When you try to stop being your own enemy and learn how to love and be kind to yourself… I called it black sun because it’s a moment when you are simultaneously the darkness and the light, the victim and the savior. As I slapped my guitar, the riff immediately resonated with the violence of this fight.” – Irma for CentralSauce (2020)

More From Irma

Be sure to check out the rest of Irma’s newest album, The Dawn. You can also dive into her older work, with Faces being another project worthy of your time. Stay up to date with Irma’s music through her Twitter.

More To Discover

Subscribe to the CentralSauce mailing list so you never miss out on the freshest sauce. Check out this continuously updated playlist of songs Ryan has added to our Discovery section! Each track or artist has been featured in our “Why We Like It” section, so be sure to check out the page here on the site.