Billie Marten
(gbr)

A good friend once described Billie Marten’s hands as “spindly” and thus very “good at picking things, pointing at things, stroking things and playing really nice guitar.” Raised between the pastoral rolling hills of North Yorkshire (she loves nature) and the timeless soundscapes of her parents’ record collection (she loves Nick Drake, John Martyn, Joni Mitchell, Joan Armatrading, Kate Bush…), Billie – born Isabella Sophie Tweddle – actually managed to land her first viral music video as a pre-teen. Nominated for the BBC Sound of 2016, her critically acclaimed debut full-length Writing of Blues & Yellows drew comparisons Kate Bush and Nick Drake upon its arrival later that year, when she was still just 17. The following year, she moved to London, where she worked on her 2019 follow-up, Feeding Seahorses By Hand, which The Line of Best Fit called a “gentle and reserved masterpiece”. Recently, the East London-based singer/songwriter decided to add more bass and rhythm to her breath-taking current album Flora Fauna, which also saw her channel inspirations such as Can, Broadcast, Arthur Russell, and Fiona Apple. “It was such freedom to play, and just be, and explore different corners of me that I hadn’t before.”