‘Harmonics’ combines a vocal performance that’s powerful in scale and substance with a production environment that’s minimal, restrained, and supple. Ysabel Bain lies in a unique confluence between soul and folk, all the while utilising a distinctive contemporary pop production style to give the tune a modernity and finished sound. There’s a warmth to her voice, a reassuring quality that lends itself to the listener in times of darkness and despair. She reaches ranges that oscillate throughout the song, soaring with power and height all within the five minute run time of Harmonics. That distinctive storytelling quality that’s consistent throughout her music makes itself increasingly and more resplendently known on her latest piece.
There’s a clear love that Bain’s had for this piece that becomes evident in the meticulous attention to detail and quality of the finished product. It’s been ten years in the making, taking a variety of shapes and forms throughout its journey to today. Harmonics is a testament to a songwriter’s capability in fleshing out something more than what’s immediately discernible. It’s genre bending, powerful, and deeply, deeply emotive.