Zoee Did it Again with Hand Me Downs!

Zoee has a knack for catchy country pop songs. But beneath all the fun and lightness are some sobering ideas... are we all on the right road and if we are, why doesn't it feel like it?

I even find the cover artwork heartbreaking this week. Here’s a fully grown woman on the outside, but she is pictured in her nursery with a basket of teddies, children’s books and her name on the wall. At first glance it looks like the table is set for a formal English tea but on second glance… the table is in miniature. A child has been playing at tea parties. Adult on the outside yet still very much exposed and raw on the inside. Is this the future that toddler Zoee pictured for herself, in the heat of another Tasmanian summer?

Last shelf
Box in the spare room
Old boots
Thought they might fit you
Scuffed heels
Life tends to wear them out
Dressed up
That's how they'll find you
Love's here
Just to remind you
Time's up
No need to scream and shout

On third glance, I wonder what she’s wearing. Is that her grandmother’s faux fur coat, or a shawl, or rug? This character is in need of a hug, of reassurance. She needs a weighted blanket or teddy bear. But I wrote a lot of words about Zoee last year and the person I got to know is the one who came out the other side of some difficult times: grown up but not invincible.

Zoee is not the one who is lost, she is one of the few who can shine a light, who can show us our way ahead. Whether she’s pep talking us up in I Could Complain or pointing out the fragility of the future in the song The Butterfly Effect. Whether she is finding her inner strength in Little Voice or helping a friend in Jackie, Zoee is one of the few who appear to ‘have it all worked out’.

She hasn’t, of course. She’s been writing songs about real life long enough to know that the very moment someone might think they have it all worked out is when things go south. I feel happier thinking that there are people in the world like Zoee who have faced the darkness and resolutely decided to seek the positives. But the path to that point is difficult and dangerous, and not for the faint of heart.

One day
This will all be yours
Someday
You'll do all the chores
You'll need what I'm leaving you

This is a summer song that will provide relief here in winter. I loved it immediately from those first guitar notes and the playful whoops. I cannot wait to blast this out with the top down this spring. Unfortunately I live in England, so I don’t drive a convertible. But I will open all the windows, front and back, and turn it up to 11.

These are Zoee’s words on her latest creation.

Hand Me Downs is about inheriting a world we didn’t create. It’s about growing up carrying the weight of student debt, impossible housing markets, climate anxiety, pandemics, and broken systems that were handed to our generation without asking.
The song uses the metaphor of literal hand-me-downs like old boots, worn heels, and dusty boxes to represent emotional, financial, and societal baggage. It’s not angry, it’s quietly defiant. It’s about recognizing what we were given, choosing what to carry forward, and leaving the broken crown behind instead of pretending it still fits. It’s a Gen Z anthem about resilience, identity, and learning how to build something new from what was left to us.

Stream Hand Me Downs everywhere now, or visit Zoee’s store. Her next show at Sundance Resort, UT is sold out! Below you can read my deep dive review of Zoee’s absolutely incredible Country Pop debut album from summer 2025, The Butterfly Effect.