Isabeau Waia’u Walker isn’t looking for forever, but her latest release Cloudhunter will surely stand the test of time. The album, which came out in October 2026, is the culmination of over a decade of Walker’s musical creation. The Kānaka Maoli singer-songwriter was raised in Hawaiʻi, collecting pieces of music from radio hits, family and friends, and church. Her musical career began as a YouTube channel, where Walker would record and post several times a week, eventually earning the nickname “Cloud Hunter” from an early listener based in France, who commented that Walker chased the gray clouds away, making way for the sun. 

Since moving to Portland, Walker has become known for her equally bright and gloomy sound, mixing pop sensibilities with a dreamy melancholy and moving playfully through the dichotomies of human feeling. Her work gently rips open grief, examining it from every angle with care, then ties it with a bow. That’s not to say she’s masking feelings; rather, she’s kindly sitting with the complexities that lie within us all.

Walker’s accolades include the release of numerous works, including Better Metric (2020), Body (2022), and Heavyweight (2024), alongside performing as a touring member of the local indie-folk outfit Y La Bamba, led by Luz Elena Mendoza. Cloudhunter was mixed and produced alongside Ryan Oxford, who also plays guitar in Walker’s band, Isabeau and the Noise Boyz, with Ayal Alves on synth and piano, Alex Crowson on bass, and Alexander Thomas on drums. Out now via Better Company Records, Walker is set to celebrate this colorful release at Portland’s World Famous Kenton Club on Saturday, November 14. 

The Mercury caught up with Walker about what Cloudhunter means to her and how it came to be.

PORTLAND MERCURY: Your voice and your heart come through so clearly in this piece, and the production is just so fantastic. And “Cloudhunter” is a nickname that was linked to your childhood, right?

ISABEAU WAIAʻU WALKER: Ryan Oxford produced it. He’s also in the band. He’s a dear friend. After a lot of pre-production, writing out—I always have those yellow legal notepads—I remember we finally selected the songs. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel like there was a throughline, because I think especially as a singer songwriter, the throughline is me. But I remember sitting in the studio and being like, “I haven’t come up with it yet.” I just went through each song, the themes of it, lyrics that stood out. In that little web diagram, I had written “Cloudhunter.” 

I think I was looking for something very profound at first. And I went in on this one.

Well, you said that you are the through line, right? And Cloudhunter is you. 

Yeah.

So I think that makes sense. 

I know that I have a history of wanting to be so open to ideas, that I’ll realize I didn’t speak for myself. And then, it might make me unknowingly avoid putting myself in new spaces. I don’t want to avoid those spaces. In the past, I would have band members, but it was changing all the time. Now, there is a band. I feel more ready to be open, more courageous. To be like, “I hear your point. I actually really meant it to be like that. I know it’s clunky, I meant it.” Or, “Oh, it is clunky. Do you have an idea of how we could move through it?”

That’s great.

Like “Fake Cowboy.” I’m sure this happens with everyone, but the first time we got the track back, I remember sitting down with [my manager] Dan [Cable]. It wasn’t bad. It was just like, “Oh, I don’t think this is it.” So, the trust is pivotal to be able to come back, be like, “Hey, I think we have to go at it again.”

Did you end up re-recording that track?

Yeah, and it was the first time I think we’ve done something like that. 

I think that’s amazing, that you had Ryan and your band supporting you. I think it’s really good to have people to bounce that stuff off of. Especially when you can hang out in your own mind and go back and forth. I also wanted to ask, I thought I heard strings and horns in “Memory,” but I couldn’t figure out who was playing them, or if they were organic. What was some of the instrumentation process for that?

I had met two amazing artists on a solo tour, Carrie Jennings and Karen Laura Peters. I played with them in Tacoma, and then we booked another show. I went up to Seattle to play with them, and when we were up there. They have their own respective projects, and they play on other people’s bands and projects. Very talented, very kind.

Your music is pretty unique. I don’t know exactly how you describe it. It fits in like a kind of indie space, but it’s got all these different elements.

I realize that no one feels like they fit perfectly in any category they’re given. And some of my favorite shows have a range. I don’t want it to be identical, but I do think that there’s a way to curate a show that makes sense. 

Even out in Hawaii, it differs. My parents both play the guitar, and would sing together around the house. Church shaped a lot. I used to get really nervous, especially when I moved to Portland, when people would be like, “What are your musical influences?” because I was worried that I would look dishonest. There’s Brooklyn Tabernacle Church, local bands back home from the island, like Ekolu. My older sister was very into R&B and Boys 2 Men. And then they hear me, and it would be just this collision. 

Seven years ago, when I released Better Metric, I was in an interview. He wasn’t unkind about it, but he was honest, like, “I read your biography. I got a little background, and I heard your sound. I was very confused.” My assumption from what else he said was that he was expecting to hear what he imagines traditional Hawaiian music to sound like. An island sound. And instead of solving it for him, I was like, “I know, huh?”

You said you have a consistent band now too, the Noise Boyz. What’s that lineup look like? Who will be playing with you at your upcoming show at Kenton Club?

It’ll be Ryan, Ayal, Alex, and Alexander. We’re hoping to do a live viewing of the “Fake Cowboy” music video as well. I’m very excited.

Isabeau Waia’u Walker plays the World Famous Kenton Club as Isabeau & The Noise Boyz with special guest Elly, 2025 N Kilpatrick, $10, 7 pm, more info here, 21+.