IVA’S “NOBODY’S WOMAN” SHOULD APPEAL TO EVERYBODY

Iva- A Portrait of Nobody’s Woman / photo by Shervin Lainez

When Brooklyn Roads interviewed singer-songwriter IVA in November of 2022, she told us that she aims to create “thought provoking” music that “gives people mega feelings.” That’s certainly true of her new four-song EP, Nobody’s Woman — four powerful, inciteful songs sung in the opera-trained IVA’s clear, strong, beautifully evocative voice.

Iva Performs at Pete’s Candy Store / photo by Erin Ko

It kicks off with the deceptively breezy “Mid Air,” a litany of daily woes (“I’ve got holes in my stories and my shoes, holes in my pockets full of blues…”) she deals with while managing to stay “one step ahead of the avalanche.”

Next up is the title track, a tale of a relationship gone sour that more than hints at alcoholism being at the core. When she “found [him] on Tinder,” she saw some red flags but, she laments, “I thought I was an angel here to sew up your scars.” She later acknowledges her own shortcomings (also alcohol related?) and clings to the possibility of an eventual reconciliation (“I hope to see you when you get the answers you need”). Also we can’t help but feel that the refrain, “I’m nobody’s woman, you’re everybody’s man” implies that she is the one being shunned by their mutual acquaintances.

“Oh, Christian” is not about religion but rather concerns her determination to break through and connect with another troubled soul. She’s bent on “fixing what needs fixing,” though the most telling line may be: “You can track your muddy shoes across my dirty room.”

We found the concluding track, “Heart,” to be perhaps the most personal and enigmatic. It sounds to us like a tribute (or elegy?) to a friend from long ago, perhaps from her childhood. It’s clearly someone she admired and looked up to, a person with a lot of, well, heart.