Phoebe Huisman, a musician and singer, has put out her new album, ‘Inside.’ She began writing songs at the age of ten, and it has always been the way she needs to share her thoughts and feelings. Her honest writing is clearly shown in her first big album, ‘Inside.’ This very personal album is like a memory box, covering her most important and difficult years, from age fourteen to seventeen. The songs directly discuss important things like mental health, strong feelings for others, and the often tough emotions of growing up.
The album is set mainly in the pop genre, but sounds of pop rock, indie, and acoustic styles are also mixed in. The music is built with simple instruments like the acoustic guitar and grand piano, and a soft, deep sound is given to the vocals through a heavy layer of reverb. It is understood that this album is the first part of her story, a necessary chapter that clears the way for future work. A hard-working production team and several helpers built this entire project, spending lots of time making sure the sounds and music felt exactly right. This music is an important, honest work of art. It was shared so that listeners going through similar feelings can feel less alone and more understood.
There is a strange and scary beauty that is found in the years between fourteen and seventeen. This time felt less like a simple path and more like a strong change where the self is always coming apart and being put back together. On her new album, Inside, this big change is captured by Phoebe Huisman with great care. The record works not just as a set of songs but as a chapter that is now closed—a way to hold the intense feelings of early teenage life so that the artist can now step away from them. A deep look at how a person finds who they are is given, detailing the fight between the person we are, the person we are told to be, and the person we finally become.
The story begins in the title track, “Inside.” This song, written at the start of this big change, serves as the main idea for what came “Before.” A sound world that feels closed off is built on purpose, showing the feeling of being held inside one’s own mind. The main thought of this track is the feeling of being trapped—that sense that life is just being watched instead of being lived. The album’s main problem is set up here: the fight between a rich inner world and an outside world that feels far away. By placing the listener in this small, worried room, the stage is set for the emotional break that will follow.
No Want
As the worries of that inner world close in, the story moves down into the heavy sadness of “No Want.” If the first song was the place, this song is the deep feeling of the fight. In this song, Huisman removes all her defenses to show her deepest, most painful feelings of self-doubt. The song clearly looks at the fear of not being wanted—not just in love, but everywhere. It explores the feeling of being unseen even in a crowd. The strong feeling of having no value is a key message. Huisman accepts this feeling instead of trying to hide it. By leaving the pain in the music, she shows respect for the truth of that sadness.
This breaking inside then leads to the strange look of “But That’s Not Her.” Here, the eyes are turned from the self to the “Other”—the perfect girl that teenage life seems to demand. The song is a sad meeting with the act of comparing, showing the hard mental work needed to measure oneself against a standard that cannot be met. The main idea of this track is the harm of trying to act perfect; it looks at the sadness of trying to make one’s own sharp edges fit into a smooth, ready-made shape. It is a song for the people who feel like the “second choice,” showing how useless it is to trade being real for being liked.
But That’s Not Her
But the album takes a sudden turn with “Untamed,” a track that works as the bright, strong center of the whole project. This is the moment when the clouds are broken, and the victim is turned into the main character. The main thought changes from “Why am I not like them?” to a big, loud “I am strange, and that is okay.” The feeling here is strong and freeing, showing the sound of a girl who knows that if she cannot fit into the box, she is free to simply burn the box down. The things that were once hidden are now used as power. “Untamed” is about self-acceptance that is not a gentle thought but a strong act of fighting back. The first fresh breath is taken here, signaling that the need for outside approval has been stopped.
After finding peace with her wilder nature, Huisman is finally free to find the clear joy of “Dancing in the Rain.” This track is the happy result for all the pain that was gone through in the first part of the album. The main point here is strength—not the hard, rough kind, but a soft, easy strength that lets happiness be felt even when the bad times, the “rain,” are still there. The song says that growing up is not just about living through pain but about getting back the ability to feel happy. It is a time for enjoying the now, without being bothered by past worries or future stress, offering a sight of hope that is felt to be earned.
Hypocrites
The journey finishes with the soft ending of ‘Photograph.’ If the first song felt stuck in the present, this last one is about the nice feeling of remembering the past. The song is the final step in closing that chapter. The artist finishes her teenage years and looks back at them, like seeing an old picture. The main idea of ‘Photograph’ is to keep the past memories safe. It says that the worried and strong versions of herself (from ‘No Want’ and ‘Untamed’) are both important parts of her past. It’s a gentle, acoustic goodbye to childhood that doesn’t reject the past but respects it before moving on.
Overall, Inside is a huge success at capturing and sharing feelings. Phoebe Huisman has created a musical picture of the messy, painful, and beautiful process of growing up. The journey from the closed-in feeling of ‘Inside’ to the freedom of ‘Untamed’ and the quiet calm of ‘Photograph’ shows us that our worst moments aren’t the whole story—they’re just small parts. The album’s main message is about survival and change: it tells us it’s okay to feel worried, it’s okay to be different, and most importantly, it’s okay to close this chapter and move forward.
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