If you like your music good, and your artists championing women in music, then listen close and look no further: I introduce to you, dear reader, Ysabelle Wombwell and her latest release, ‘Shoeboxes’. Ysabelle Wombwell has become something of a local legend in The City of Culture, working closely with The PRS Foundation, as well as being a valued artist and family member of Hull’s Warren Youth Project, supporting city-wide projects that advocate young people and their roles in the music industry. But she is back in the studio, and this is what she’s strived to give us.
With a stripped back, buoyant instrumental that sonically feels like skipping down steps, crowned with emphatic, meandering piano playing, Shoeboxes flows freely in its own direction as if carried by the current of Wombwell’s voice. The maturity and richness of her vocals, which all the while retain this breezy, light, carefree intonation separates Shoeboxes from every other cheerful ditty. There is feeling here, and this is clear to the ear. Wombwell said, on the meaning of her latest single, ““Shoeboxes is about relationships, breaking up and the memories you hold throughout that process. I started the song years ago but it took time to find the direction it deserved. You can’t force the process.”
Shoeboxes is streaming now on all digital platforms including Spotify or Apple Music or directly from the artist at Bandcamp.
