NEWCASTLE guitar-toter Martha Hill has been around on the SoundCloud/Bandcamp scene for a couple of years now, steadily, writing, recording and releasing a clutch of songs for download.
She left her rural home north of the border in her teens, travelled, and later settled by the Tyne to make music.
She says that she “writes observational alt-pop that is both hard-hitting and catchy as hell”; listen to her latest single, released today, and you’d find it hard to disagree.
“Grilled Cheese” may be the title, but lyrically and musically it’s far from cheese. “My baby messed me around … she put her arms in the air, then the air turned sour / we stood like that for an hour … My baby makes the grilled cheese, she puts the onion on, because she knows I don’t want it.” And Martha’s cracked, sad, strong voice is the perfect vehicle for the bruise of a a lovers’ argument; part the empowerment of PJ, and not afraid to unleash a big, belting chorus. You can listen below.
Martha says of the track, and the recording: “‘Grilled Cheese’ is the first single off my upcoming EP, Summer Up North. The whole EP was recorded “during lockdown via Zoom.
“It’s been weird being in the studio and in my living room at the same time. ‘Grilled Cheese’ is a dissection of a relationship. Daft arguments about food prep [and] jealousy, but in the end still believing things are going to get better.”
Martha has a brace of dates booked for November, in Wakefield and Durham; let’s hope the live scene is back and functioning by then. We could all do with some guitar catharsis.
For news of releases and gigs, you can also find Martha on Bandcamp and Facebook
