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Martha Rose is a Brighton native with a nomadic heart, summoned forth to rescue the summer of 2009 with a very promising EP.
Influenced surely by the alt.country movement, Gillian Welch would be proud of these songs. Twee, but not in that annoying way, it's unfair to call her music 'cute', but her slight lisp and the beautiful flourishes of Ben Joel’s proper traditional banjo make this folk/country tinged batch of catchy, summery songs sound as wide eyed and bushy tailed as an excited puppy. If you could hug music, you'd hug this first and longest.
Aforementioned cuteness melts away, like a sweet used to lure you in, when the lyrical excellence of these songs is revealed behind the waves of harmonies and folk violin. With touches of sadness and painful honesty, revealed in the cracks of her voice, Martha Rose clearly lives the life of a troubled troubadour, and it's as romantic as we all want it to be.
Brimming with imagination, the fairytale songs about Mermaids and Lizards contain reflections on love, loss, friendship and childhood that seem both familiar to us, and particularly personal to her. She sounds like a friend, part shoulder to cry on, part cry for help.
martharosesinging_sm Martha seems to have a handle on the bittersweet reaching beyond the comprehension of her 21 year old singer-songwriter contemporaries; “Don't call it love, this thing we share, that would be a lie, I'm just happy when you're there” she sings in ‘The Lizards’, revealing an awareness of more important things in life than drinking cups of tea, though the tea makes an appearance as well.
Lyrics that work as both reminiscences and dark metaphors, like “The streams choked up, weeping willows fallen in” (‘We’re Both Sorry’) are Martha Rose’s poetic hidden weapon, and take her soaring far beyond the banality of songwriters who either seek to ‘tell it like it is’, or disappear behind impenetrable imagery.
Martha Rose's career has been blossoming steadily for the last few years, as her music has taken her on tour across England, Ireland and Germany, and this is her strongest effort, and most official release yet. However, like a dedicated folk storyteller with busking roots, she never stops playing, and with each experience, musical and otherwise, she will surely improve as a artist, and find a new, more heartbreaking, line for a song.
This is a singer and lyricist destined for certain cult status, so get your hands on this EP while you can, because next time she will have a totally different handful of stories to tell.
5/5
Visit Martha Rose on myspace: www.myspace.com/martharosemusic - Audio Junkies
Discography
The band has just released its first E.P. "Martha Rose and The Way Home".
Martha has played live on local radio station Juice FM in Brighton.
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Bio
Martha Rose was given a guitar in January 2007, wrapped up in newspaper. She writes songs about the people she loves and likes. About the things she sees, and the things she dreams. She likes the pace of the river. The twilight. And the sad, deep wells inside us all.
Influences range from old tapes of the Dubliners to the simplicity of CocoRosie. Country and folk figures such as Bob Dylan, Gram Parson, Gillian Welch inspire honest lyrics, and Joanna Newsom inspires magical quirks.
The band is always scattered across places, but holds a dedication to travelling on the train, guitar in hand, which keeps it alive and working. It works on true friendship and trust.
Martha began playing open mic nights in Oxford, and gradually found gigs in Brighton, London, Manchester and Liverpool. Martha and Jess met in Germany, and are regularly performing in Berlin at the moment.
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