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Last Day Deaf is proud to exclusively premiere the brand new video, ‘Circles‘, from Leicester-based alt-folk songwriter Martha Bean, taken off her ‘Here Comes The Snowstorm‘ EP, out tomorrow, November 15.

This ambient folk gem was conceived when Bean was in Canada while watching fireflies dancing in the night sky, seeking partners. The lush, harmonic vocals are beautifully combined with the divine strings, and the song’s heart beats with one of the best & effortless choruses, that will seep into your mind for weeks: ‘Keep it Going Round and Around‘. Martha is not trying to capture the emotion. No need to. This is a track of ‘volcanic tranquility’. Tame & wild at the same time. A perfect treasure of melodies to get lost in…

Press Notes:

About ‘Circles’

A beautifully evocative release both lyrically and musically, ‘Circles’ was written and composed by Martha in Canada. The singer was inspired by watching fireflies dancing in the night sky, seeking partners. She was struck by how we all essentially follow a similar ritual. The song’s gently pulsing percussion and sweetly swirling strings give it a cyclical feel, which fits the Leicester artist’s radiant chorus – ‘Keep it Going Round and Around” – atop a lilting, picked guitar and perfectly deployed double bass.

About ‘Here Comes The Snowstorm’ EP 

”Life rarely brings blocks of pure joy or pure despair. More often the emotions – hope and hopelessness; gravity and levity – all bleed into one another, and I hope these songs reflect that.” Martha Bean

Though united by a bittersweet theme, each of the five tracks on Martha Bean’s new EP stands alone, inspired by real events. Be it the eponymous tale in ‘Slippers to a Wedding’ (“We aren’t perfect – we have to laugh at each other,” says Martha); the emotional vision of a lonely widow captured on ‘Beneath the Shadows’; or the hopes and fears of a new mum expressed on ‘When I Hold You In My Arms’ (Martha became a first-time mother, to Leon, this February), the highs and lows of contemporary existence are all on show. Conveyed via spacious, ambient alt-folk topped by Martha’s skilled guitar picking and silky vocal, her songs evoke artists such as Fionn Regan, Phoebe Bridgers and Lisa Hannigan

Recorded and engineered at home by Martha herself (the versatile musician also played guitar, piano, mandolin and bass, as well as scoring all the string parts), ‘Here Comes the Snowstorm’ has already made an impact in 2019 thanks to two of its tracks – ‘Slipper to a Wedding’ and ‘When I Hold You in My Arms’ – being aired on Tom Robinson’s BBC 6Music show. Co-produced by Martha’s partner Joel Evans (aka Tiny Eyes), who also weighed in on percussion, synths and Wurlitzer piano, the EP features Joe Manger on drums, Rob Rosa (Maniere des Bohémiens) on violin, Mirka Hoppari on viola and Martha’s father John on cello.

Tracklisting for ‘Here Comes The Snowstorm

1 – Slipper To A Wedding

2 – Beneath The Shadows

3 – Along The Lonely

4 – Circles

5 – When I Hold You In My Arms

About Martha Bean

Leicester-based alt-folk songwriter Martha Bean began her musical journey early – at the age of just three, she began writing melodies on the piano, but refused lessons from her mum (a piano teacher). She turned her hand to any instrument she could get hold of, which, growing up in a musical household, wasn’t too difficult.

Following on from these creative beginnings, Martha infused her own material with a broad set of influences, from singer-songwriters Fionn Regan, Nilüfer Yanya, Nick Drake and Andy Shauf to her fellow boundary-breakers Radiohead and Grizzly Bear. This sonic template has been further expanded by supporting the likes of Scott Matthews, Marika Hackman and Seth Lakeman, while her songs have been played on 6Music, and featured on trailers for primetime BBC TV shows as well as advertising campaigns. Her debut LP When Shadows Return To The Sea won glowing reviews and favourable comparisons to the likes of Fiona Apple and Norah Jones, among others, upon release in 2015.

Martha has also turned her hand to production and, impressively, she recorded and engineered the whole of her new EP in her home studio. ‘Here Comes the Snowstorm’ features five tracks connected by themes of life’s inevitable highs, lows and unexpected quirks. It is a striking body of work, Martha Bean’s best to date, and, at a time when the artist has become a mother for the first time, represents further cause for celebration in an extremely memorable year.

Social media

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/marthabeanmusic

Twitter – http://twitter.com/marthabean

Instagram – http://www.instagram.com/marthabeanmusic

SoundCloud – http://soundcloud.com/marthabeanmusic

Others:

Official website: http://www.marthabean.com

Spotify: https://play.spotify.com/user/marthabeanmusic