Music Review - `I’m Into Now` by Shoebox Letters (dmac)
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Shoebox Letters - I'm into Now (click on image to watch video)
6 February 2020
Shoebox Letters may still be a new name to some, but this quartet’s members have notable resumes. Vocalist and songwriter, Dennis Winslow, is a former Nashville songsmith who has placed some of his songs in Hollywood movies. Bassist David Stricker co-founded Kung-Fu Bakery Recording Studio, where acts like The Decemberists and Pink Martini have recorded. Guitarist Greg Paul has lent his skills to the bands of both Amy Farris and Deborah Iyall. Lastly, vocalist, Susan Lowery adds a feminine element to the act. Based in Vancouver, Shoebox Letters nicely muddles the line between folk and country music with I’m Into Now.
During its best moments, Shoebox Letters draws comparisons to Lady Antebellum, another act that smartly mixes male and female vocals. During the brooding “Last Night’s Lie,” Lowery plays Hillary Scott role, to Winslow’s Charles Kelley. The album’s best song is “I Drink For Two,” which finds its character having a lonely drink of rum while mourning the death of a romance. No amount of alcohol, though, will ever help this woebegone lover understand why a seemingly good relationship died too soon. The album’s title track, however, is far more positive. “I’m Into Now” is a song that bravely forges ahead, while leaving all painful baggage behind, in order to make a new romance work.
I’m Into Now is a simple album, in the best possible use of that term. It’s filled with good singing and sparse instrumentation. The musical focus is squarely on servicing the song, instead of any instrumentation being the means to an end. It’s an album filled with smart, soulful and honest songs. Lyrically, Shoebox Letters isn’t telling us anything we don’t already know about the trials and tribulations of love. It is, though, putting these familiar truths into gentle, melodic settings. Let’s hope quality music like I’m Into Now never goes out of style, or worse yet, goes away for good. It’s the kind of ‘now’ we want to remain now for a long, long time.
Dan MacIntosh - Dan MacIntosh has been a professional music journalist for 30 years and his work has regularly appeared in many local and national publications, including Inland Empire Weekly, CCM, CMJ, Paste, Mean Street, Chord, HM, Christian Retailing, Amplifier, Inspirational Giftware, Stereo Subversion, Indie-Music, Soul–Audio, Roughstock.com, Country Standard Time and Spin.com.
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