Note : At the time of writing, Charlotte was talking of working with a UK producer - this never happened.
The Best Album You’ve Never Heard
Charlotte Martin – “Six Track Sampler”
[Available from www.charlottemartin.com]
They say that to sing about life, you’ve got to have lived it, and Charlotte Martin certainly has the life experience. A recovered anorexic (who now claims to favour steak and peanut M&Ms) whose first lover’s sister (who also happened to be her best friend) committed suicide, nobody could deny that here’s someone with a story to tell. The twist in the tale is that she also just happens to have a degree - in opera.
So much for the biography, what of the music. Imagine a female Ben Folds with the octave range of Mariah Carey, the angst of Fiona Apple and the piano flair of Kate Bush or Tori Amos. The subject matter is always esoteric, from a letter to a friend (“Raven”) to femininity (“One Girl Army”) and on one track promises to “get medieval on boy bands” while never anything less than technically accomplished or emotionally bare. Currently there is only a six track sampler available to purchase, but you can also download songs for free from www.charlottemartin.com in MP3 format – so for once you really have got nothing to lose by trying this one. Try “Silver Honey” as a starter, the five minute album version of which is truly epic, matched with some incredible piano work and as catchy a chorus as you’re likely to hear.
Just signed to RCA, Charlotte is moving over to the UK to work with a producer here, with a full album out early in the new year, and I’m fairly sure that she’ll be one to watch for the future. If you’ve got any interest at all in a female singer songwriter with real ability and musical flair, then you can’t afford not to get a hold of this amazing debut.