I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love discovering new music to listen to, so when a singer-songwriter I hadn’t heard of before started following me on Twitter I wanted to find out more about her.
According to the blurb on her website, Martyna Wren is a “British Jazz & Vintage singer-songwriter with a cool jazz style reminiscent of June Christy mixed with the Bacharach inspired vintage sound of the early 60’s”. She has recently released an official video for her single ‘Al Capone’s Girl’ and has a small selection of live performance videos on YouTube and her website.
She’s performing today at the 2014 Dusty Day, an annual fundraiser in honour of Dusty Springfield, in Ealing, London which seems a perfect fit for her voice. I’m a big fan of Dusty Springfield, with Son of a Preacher Man being one of my all-time favourite songs, and I can definitely see her influence in Martyna’s music.
Al Capone’s Girl starts with a 60s, Burt Bacharach style vibes, cello and flugelhorn melody before Martyna’s crystal clear voice, filled with deep richness, gracefully cuts in as everything hushes in the background. It builds in ebs and flows and really makes you feel like you’re in some cool 60s Michael Caine or Lynn Redgrave film. There are a couple of lyrical hooks in it that you can’t help but sing a long with but generally it takes a while for the melody to really grab you.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfGJU-N2ONA]
One thing that I feel lets the song down is the video. It’s clearly been done on a budget, which I have no problem with, we all have to start somewhere, but I would’ve liked to have seen Martyna singing in a smokey club in between the book scenes rather than just sat in a tea room trying to act surprised by what is going on with the book.
Al Capone’s Girl is definitely what Chris Moyles would coin as ‘a grower’. It didn’t grab me initially and I think the video could’ve been better, but the more I listen to it the more I like it and I’ve even caught myself singing the tune a couple of times.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngGzVk1iNAY]
If you like the tone of her voice I would highly recommend that you check out her debut album, due out in late spring, ‘The World Can Wait’ preview songs (I particularly like Two of a Kind) on Soundcloud and her videos on YouTube of cover songs, particularly ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?’ which really hits you with its heartbreaking tenderness.
Why not let me know what you think of Martyna Wren? Do you have a favourite track or have you seen her live?
