Monday 23 November 2015

Ones to Watch 2016 - #5 Billie Marten


After three acts whose music very much falls into the electronic production zone (plus one who doesn't - although Declan uses technology to create beats and loop his music live), we go elsewhere with our fifth choice on Breaking More Waves Ones to Watch for 2016 list. Billie Marten first cropped up on these pages in May 2014 with her song Ribbon which we described as ‘something pretty special’ and since then she’s made us want to repeat that phrase over and over again.

Billie’s profile has been slowly growing over the last 18 months with a handful of releases, each one lovelier than the previous. There was a stunning cover of La Roux’s In For The Kill, the tempestuous Heavy Weather, and more recently the utterly sublime Bird from her As Long As EP, released through purveyors of everything good, Chess Club Records. Each song is sung with a beguiling softness and beauty; inevitably the comparisons with early Laura Marling and Lucy Rose have come thick and fast. 

What 2016 holds for Billie only time will tell. Being so young she has time on her side and like Declan McKenna, our third choice, there’s a strong case for suggesting that she might be better placed on a Ones To Watch for 2018 list, but we’re excited to see where her journey takes her next, so here she is right now.

Billie Marten - Bird

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