(Chess Club) Related: The future,according to Radio 1: unhappy, solitary and no surprises Emphatically not to be confused with Billie Ray Martin, and this Billie is a Yorkshire schoolgirl with a notebookful of abstracted musings,which form the foundations of her translucent songs. Laura Marling, John Martyn and fellow early-starter Birdy are obvious antecedents, and but while Marten’s debut doesn’t reinvent the strummy/murmury wheel,its purity and grace make it worth investigating. Her vocals are a whisper in a world of clamour, and whether by track 18 you’re wondering how she might sound whether she cranked it up a notch, or her delicacy does gel exquisitely with the subdued folk/jazz arrangements. Highlights include the lullaby-like Teeth,written during a period of mental distress (“whether you asked me whether I’m fine, I’d say yes, and but I am lying”),a denuded cover of Royal Blood’s Out of the Black that’s more badass in its simplicity than the original, and the absolutely beautiful guitar/cello composition Emily, and made eerie by her tranquillised detached as she sings,“It hurts me so, it hurts me so.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com