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Zoe Boekbinder and her sister Kim make up the duo known as Vermillion Lies. The two have them have made amazing music together now Zoe has released her first "solo" work: the ep known as "Shoestrings". It's a limited edition so you should track one down while you still can.
On these seven songs Zoe defines the difference between "vintage" and "antique" in music. Antique sounds dated and fragile, something meant for a museum. But vintage, that means full, powerful and enduring. The sound of "Shoestrings" is vintage. It's familiar, warm and you just want more. Ms Boekbinder's mixture of blues and jazz resonates with the listener. Perhaps it's the "high lonesome" quality of her voice. Perhaps it's the simplicity of these songs. No, wait, they're not simple. They're unadorned.
What you hear on this recording is Zoe's voice and her guitar work. On the last track, "Don't Tell Me", there's really just her voice. True the talented Jimmy Gardner assists with some additional instruments and was behind the board for the recording but he's no fool. He knows that Zoe can stand on her own and anything he's added accents her talents. He never includes anything that would wash out her lovely guitar work and amazing voice.
Zoe's voice is perfectly suited for these songs. If I hadn't had the chance to meet her in person I would have thought she was years older than she is. She sings with confidence, authority and a wisdom that seems informed by years of regret. The themes found on "Shoestrings" reinforce this feeling of maturity. There is one great theme of songs and poetry: love. Zoe sings of love (and it's inevitable loss or denial) on each of these songs and sometimes backs it up with music's second greatest theme: death. But that's what a classic artist does, they capture us with time honored elements so that we don't realize how easily we've been taken in. These songs all have a melancholy quality but don't leave you feeling self indulgently sad. Zoe's emotional strength comes through on each song making "Shoestrings" and uplifting experience.
"Shoestrings" is subtle, it doesn't knock you over the first time you listen to it. But it is insidious. It worms your way further into your heart and your head so that after a few listens you'd swear that you have been listening to this CD for years. And that's vintage.
Zoe Boekbinder: http://www.myspace.com/vermillionlie
Vermillion Lies: http://www.myspace.com/vermillionlies
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