Emphatically not to be confused with Billie Ray Martin, this Billie is a Yorkshire schoolgirl with a notebookful of abstracted musings, which form the foundations of her translucent songs. Laura Marling, John Martyn and fellow early-starter Birdy are obvious antecedents, but while Marten’s debut doesn’t reinvent the strummy/murmury wheel, its purity and grace make it worth investigating. Her vocals are a whisper in a world of clamour, and if by track 18 you’re wondering how she might sound if she cranked it up a notch, her delicacy does gel exquisitely with the subdued folk/jazz arrangements. Highlights include the lullaby-like Teeth, written during a period of mental distress (“If you asked me if I’m fine, I’d say yes, but I am lying”), a denuded cover of Royal Blood’s Out of the Black that’s more badass in its simplicity than the original, and the absolutely beautiful guitar/cello composition Emily, made eerie by her tranquillised calm as she sings, “It hurts me so, it hurts me so.”
