//Album Review\\ Alina Ly unapologetically unpacks her heart with debut album ‘Shoebox’

In a world that only seems to grow more chaotic,it can be easier to try and compartmentalise things, put them to the back of the mind to deal with later; a shoe box under our bed that we only unpack when it's needed.

Alina Ly is ready to unpack that shoebox with her debut album of the same name, encouraging all that the past is to be embraced and set free rather than caged forever. From the get-go,’ Shoebox’ is a beautifully intimate dissection of life after love and loss, grieving every segment of memory with such a vibrant appreciation and respect, and acknowledgement of thanks across all nine of its tracks.

Opening up the album is Intro, which sounds musically akin to staring into a vulnerable reflection with its ambient guitars and cool-toned tunings that feel impactful in their subtle delivery. It awakens the senses most magically, and it's beautifully intimate. Straight off the back of this is ‘Hush Honey’, a cool-toned moment of vulnerability that feels conversational in nature, and unapologetically honest when it comes to the ache of love.

In a similar vein,’ Hands of another’ is light as a feather musically, and lyrically,  has a gorgeous, subtle weight of emotion as it touches upon how love can transform, but also how it can haunt the future; every lover gives a piece and takes a piece no matter how long it may have been since they were part of our heart.

The titular track, ‘Shoe Box,’ is the perfect encapsulation of a soul musical ache, akin to the previous track, yet a whole lot more raw, with a subtle ambient backdrop that underlays and compliments the intimacy of its lyricsm in the best way, like the conscience in the back of the mind preparing for a perceived pain in the future that may never even arise. This track is beautifully personal and human in its delivery, from its slow, feathery percussion to its building vocal passion that feels like living in the moment rather than delving into a memory, a dream you don’t want to wake up from.

Like love, this album is layered with such a powerful, subtle complexity, with the first half thriving in joyful pondering and the second half thriving in more of an aching catharsis, both combining to create a soundscape that will shatter a heart and heal it at the same time.

Where intro is cool-toned and sweet in its ache,’ Interlude’ is cool-toned and heartwrenching, with its subtle soundscape of shrieking instrumentation and haunting ambience.

When the listener reaches ‘Force of Habit’, there is a distinct change in the air, from the sampling of the shrieking effects from ‘Interlude’ to its melancholic vocal deliver, stripped back musicality and unapologetically raw lyricism all about a continued cycle of self-sabotage and feeling somewhat defenceless in a love that once felt like the sun in the storm, ‘its a force of habit and i can’t run’/’i wanna be answering your call saying that you’re done’

Following on from this is the centre point of the album and the first song written for the album,’ ‘The Way Of My Lover’. From its first few notes of stripped-back guitars and vulnerable lyricism, this track wraps around the heart like a wise old friend, as it accepts the fate that letting go is sometimes a whole lot kinder than weathering the storm. This track is not only reflective but brilliantly mature and showcases the brilliant transformation from an artist who is no stranger to music but has truly put heart and soul into their craft.

If Force of habit is the raging storm, then ‘The Way of My Lover’ and the track that follows, ‘Unscathed,’ are the rainbow and the warmest of sunshine.

If music were to be put to the memory of standing outside at sunrise and feeling proud to be alive, then ‘Unscathed’ would be the perfect soundtrack, with its conversational lyricism that settles in the heart and takes the listener's hand with a comforting kindness and musicality that combines both the raw stripped back instrumentals of ‘The Way of My Lover’ and the ambiently intimate soundscapes of ‘Force of Habit’ to create a well rounded conscience of acceptance and resilience.

Closing out the album is ‘Landmines’, a soulful monologue that meets its lover at the crossroads and boldly feels brave enough to face them and feels confident in their decision to let them go, with an intimately cinematic musical delivery. This final track is the perfect embodiment of hindsight and transformation in its most cathartic form, and the perfect encapsulation of love and loss’s complexities and how they can intertwine every inch of being.

'Shoebox' by Alina Ly is out now on all streaming platforms. Click below to select yours.