For anyone discovering Martha Hill through her latest single, ‘Granite Feet’, the track offers a glimpse into an artist who has returned to her roots: “In some ways, I feel like I’ve come full circle,” she says. After beginning her career with “a lot more singer-songwriter, acoustic stuff” before gradually moving into indie-rock and pop during her early twenties, Martha has found herself reconnecting with the sounds that first inspired her.
That warmth and intimacy run throughout ‘Granite Feet’, a song written and recorded alongside collaborator Jordie Cooke. From the outset, the pair looked to artists such as Hayley Hendrickx, Big Thief and Bon Iver for inspiration, admiring musicians who “celebrate imperfection within their music”. Martha describes her own influences as being “all over the place”, while Jordie brought “a much better focus and craft when it comes to holding a sonic concept together”.
Away from the studio, she continues to draw inspiration from the North East music scene, which she describes as “so diverse and supportive”. Rather than feeling competitive, she says local artists “all hype each other up and come to each other’s gigs and play/write on each other’s stuff”, creating a close-knit community that has shaped both her music and her creative outlook.
The record itself took shape around the realities of everyday life: “We had to embrace imperfections a lot more,” she explains, with “little sounds of children or dogs or the outside world bleeding into the tracks”. Much of the music was developed through WhatsApp voice notes exchanged between the pair, without “the luxury of a few weeks in the studio together”, and Martha believes “the grittiness of this track” reflects that organic, collaborative process.
The move away from the indie pop-rock sound of her debut happened naturally: “I was definitely keen to write some more introspective, chilled stuff,” she says. “I’m in my 30s now, and I didn’t want to be writing poppy electric guitar stuff anymore. I think there’s something a bit more mature sounding about this album.”
As for what comes next, Martha can barely hide her excitement: “There’s something special about this album,” she says. “It’s been incredible writing with Jordie. His attention to detail, his ability to keep me on the right sonic track, and his incredible skill as a guitarist have really helped shape this latest release.”
You can listen to ‘Granite Feet’ now on all major streaming platforms.
