Alex Isley’s ‘When The City Sleeps’ Is A Sonic Diary About Love, Heartbreak And Self-Realization

Nighttime is a perfect cauldron for an artist. Stillness within the quiet pace of the evening renders alchemy, and in singer Alex Isley’s case, birthed gold within the layers of her major label debut album, “When the City Sleeps.” Throughout 15 songs, Isley invites us to lean over the cauldron, capturing intimate snapshots about heartbreak, love, and self-realization. 

“’When the City Sleeps’ is really just a collective of a lot of my deepest thoughts and feelings about my love life and what the future of my love life looks like,” Isley told HelloBeautiful. “And it’s a lot of reflection, a lot of self-questions and things, a lot of reaffirming myself and competence. So I feel like it’s a little bit of everything, but it’s definitely a nocturnal vibe, a nighttime album.”

Laced between knowing and searching, the album’s synopsis builds on the foundation of R&B, a genre Isley knows well as Ernie Isley’s daughter of the legendary Isley Brothers. But Isley isn’t invested in relying on her family history; she’s in pursuit of building outside of it, splitting open to face self.

The project’s muse is two-fold. Inspired by Isley’s hometown, Los Angeles, building on the tradition of Black musicians rendering home, like Outkast’s “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik” (1994), Lupe Fiasco’s “Food & Liquor” (2006), Solange’s “When I Get Home” (2019), and Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX” (2024).  Within these bodies of work, the artist asks, “What is home? What role do systemic oppression, displacement, and identity play in loving, living, and being?

“I think there’s elements of hip hop, there’s elements of West Coast hip-hop specifically, you know, I was raised on that,” Isley said. “There’s elements of jazz, there’s elements of even folk, I think, like when it comes to the songwriting itself. “

Isely’s second muse was the jazz standard, “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” originally performed by Frank Sinatra, including versions by Johnny Mathis and Ella Fitzgerald. “In the wee small hours of the morning, while the whole wide world is fast asleep. You lie awake and think about the girl. And never, ever think of counting sheep,” the opening lyrics croon.

“The concept is, or the lyrics are, when the whole wide world is fast asleep, you lie awake and think about the boy. And so I think that birthed the whole idea. And then I remember now I had ‘When the City Sleeps,’ the song, I had that idea and just kind of sitting with that and that concept,” Isley said. “And I was like, I think that needs to be that album. I think that’s what the whole collective is, ‘When the City Sleeps.’”

Visibility can be overwhelming, even if you sought to share a slice of your life. Finding ways to ground herself through prayer, time with loved ones, exercising, and sunbathing is a priority, Isley told HelloBeautiful. When asked what her favorite thing to do when the city literally sleeps, Isley said she’s locked into reruns of “Sex and the City” and a Lego hobby (she’s currently building a “Stranger Things” themed Lego house).

“It’s a release. It’s exhaling for me. I remember putting out this particular album and like listening to the final masters of it. I was like, ‘I’m really about to do this.’ And this is again, it’s just new territory for me,” Isley said. “And I feel like I’m speaking a little more in detail about me and my questions and hangups and, just really vulnerable thoughts about my love life specifically and reflection and acceptance and all those things.”

The album’s foundation began four years ago, Isley told HelloBeautiful. Within that space, the world was emerging, tethered to a pandemic that completely reformed how we commune, work, love, and digest art. Isley delved into experimentation and collaboration, releasing two EPs: “Marigold” (2022), formed out of a connection with Grammy-nominated producer Jack Dine, and “I Left My Heart in Ladera” (2023), with fellow Angeleno and Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist Terrace Martin.

Isley kept the collaborative solidarity on “When The City Sleeps,” which features an all-star roster of appearances from Syd (“PCH”), James Fauntleroy (“When The City Sleeps”), and Kaytranada (“Mic On”). The album’s guest spots play like an “Avengers-level” link up of The Internet’s groundbreaking 2015 album “Ego Death,” where all three above mentioned artists make an appearance. 

“James is one that, I mean, he was kind of a bucket list collaborator for me. He’s been one of my favorite writers since I was in college ages and ages ago. And I’m glad to have had, you know, L.A. natives on the project because this album is so L.A. based,” said Isley.

“Syd is an interesting one because I didn’t really know her before creating ‘PCH,’ but come to find out that we have a lot of family and friends in common, and she grew up not too far from where my mom grew up. And then for Kaytranada, that was the power of Instagram DMs, just going back and forth, like, ‘Can we please do something soon?’ And so we finally got together and figured it out. And that was ‘Mic On.’ So it was a lot of fun,” she said.

When asked whether West Coast musicians have seen more airplay in the last few years as major artists like Kendrick Lamar have held the spotlight, Isley agrees there’s been greater visibility for West Coast artists.

“And I think Kendrick absolutely has a huge part to do with it. The whole TDE, honestly. And there’s such great artistry out of the West Coast. I’m trying to think of all the people I could think of, like, oh gosh, I mean, you know, of course Ty Dolla $ign and Jhené Aiko and YG, Kenyon Dixon, and Iman Omari. Of course, the Ferris family, there’s Sir and D Smoke and Davion.”

“When The City Sleeps” is colored by a hue of royal blue, or as Isley refers to it, “Dodger Blue.” It’s a thematic element present throughout the visuals and will be reflected in the waves of fans wearing blue as she begins the first leg of her “When The City Sleeps Tour”. 

“I want them to leave having experienced love and release and maybe some insight about themselves and their own heart and their own journey and love and life wherever they are,” Isley told HelloBeautiful. “I hope that they feel loved and feel the love from me. And I hope that, I just, I hope that they leave full.”