Billie Marten
Billie Marten should be destined for big things. Getintothis’ Paul Riley shares his love of a frighteningly talented artist.
Music journalists always talk about the hottest, newest bands in such a way that one would be forgiven for thinking that fully-formed, shiny young acts just spring out of the ground at every street corner. Such is the celebratory nature of much of the words written about music, and this is not a bad thing; struggling musicians need all the support they can get.
More often than not, however, these ‘new’ bands are merely newly successful, said success having come after years of plugging away in relative obscurity, improving their music, chasing a fickle and near-impossible dream. While that life can seem a war of attrition, it also gives acts the time to make their mistakes and learn their craft. The ones who make it are arguably much better for it. Every now and then, though, there are those acts who do seem to have something else right from the start; a talent and experience that seems supernatural.
Read about more exciting new artists in our Introducing section
Billie Marten is a young singer-songwriter from North Yorkshire whose voice, guitar technique and lyrical prescience are almost spookily mature. Simply put, she writes beautiful songs, and her lyrics are almost unreasonably powerful; rollercoasters of emotional stories which bely her tender age of 16.
We won’t bother trying to describe the voice, there’s only so many superlatives you can put into 200 words before you start sounding like a thesaurus. Just give her a listen.
Marten‘s new EP, As Long As, is out on Chess Club Records on 20th November.
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