Ripon's fantastic singer Billie Marten releases brilliant new single

Harrogate event set to reschedule as film festival is delayed by Covid

The new single Garden of Eden is a taster ahead of the release of her third album Flora Fauna which will come out on Fiction Records on May 21.

The incredibly talented Marten’s debut album Writing of Blues and Yellows, was released in 2016 when she was still just 17, while its follow-up Feeding Seahorses By Hand, produced by Ethan John of Paul McCartney, Ray LaMontagne and Kings of Leon fame, was similarly lauded in 2019.

But Flora and Fauna represents a new departure for Marten, 21.

The new material see her blending her signature hushed, resonant vocals with a rapid pulse and rich instrumentation; evidence of inspirations now stretching from krautrockers Can, to Broadcast, Arthur Russell, and Fiona Apple.

Her once intensely hushed acoustic fragility with hints of classic Nick Drake and John Martyn has blossomed into a bolder contemporary sound built around a strong backbone of bass and rhythm.

With the album having a theme of growth, her new songs show her shedding the timidity of previous work in favour of a more urgent sound, marking a period of personal independence as she learned to nurture herself and break free from toxic relationships - and a big part of that was returning to nature.

Born Isabella Tweddle, Billie recorded her debut album while studying for her AS exams at Ripon Grammar School.

But she has a been an incredibly precocious talent from a very young age and had her own music channel on YouTube at the age of just nine,

She was first discovered by Harrogate-based Ont’ Sofa's co-owner Jason Odle as a 12-year-old.

By the age of 16, Billie was being signed by Chess Club Records, a division of Sony Music

Aged 17, she was shortlisted for the BBC Sound of 2016 award.

At the time, no less than Ed Sheeran hailed Marten’s delicate songs and hauntingly intense singing as “stunning.”

In 2019 Marten joined multi-platinum-selling band Snow Patrol on the bill of their Wildness tour of the United States and Canada.

Harrogate music event praised for making 'life changing differences to patients' with new hospital scanner

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.