Welcome to In Tune with WBMB, a weekly column in which a member of the station covers a new track from the underground. This week’s article is by Alex Fernandez.
WBMB is back from break with more In Tune. Expect more track discoveries from everyone! This semester’s column kicks off with “limn” by isobel. Isobel was active in 2025, frequently collaborating with music project kidlucky and singer, songwriter and producer zayok on his 2025 album, “In elsewhere.” Isobel draws from a lot of different genres of music, including bubblegrunge, soft rock, noise and indie pop.
Isobel maintains her own personal website, seeking to combat the algorithmic social media accounts that dominate today. The website is visually appealing and adds a lot to the worldbuilding of her sound, as well as an unrestricted and authentic form of self-expression.
In “limn,” isobel used elements of chamber, baroque pop and folk to make a beautiful single. The small details in the production were enjoyable, including the wind chimes, woodish sounding drums and snow crunching, which is all too timely with New York City’s recent snow storm. This is a lovable track that sounds like a journey and listeners could feel themselves being transported to a snowy, desolate area seen on the cover.
“Limn” is a part of isobel’s upcoming album, “scarlet.” As isobel described in the Bandcamp description for the single, “limn’” is about the fear of your need to be understood by your art, your friends and yourself. It begs to know if writing songs is another form of control or the freest expression of self.
In the context of the album, this song is written in the perspective of the titular Scarlet, who walks through the snow and is eventually caught by the cold, which leads her to ruminate over how in control she is over herself.
The final set of lines conveys this message well: “should poetry and prose confine me / i’ll get on stage and hope you show up / or can I grow up? / at my old age can I contain / this pain to this page?”
Media that isn’t afraid to get a bit meta is fascinating, and there’s a lot to work with when applied to music, or songwriting in this case.
The rumination that Scarlet is feeling is a sentiment felt by other artists. It leads to questions about what motivates people to create and what part of themselves bleeds into their art. The single and the themes here are really enjoyable. Isobel has a promising career ahead.
