Martha Ffion first came to our attention back in 2015 when she put out a single through the Turnstile label. Martha then picked up a much larger audience with her 2018 debut album, “Sunday Best”, released through the ever wonderful Lost Map Records, which was nominated for the Scottish Album of the Year Award. Having returned from a period of radio silence recently with the excellent single, After The Fact, Martha has this week confirmed a new album, Night To Forget will be out later this summer, as well as sharing the latest offering from it, Want You To Know.
Inspired by, “the delusional nostalgia celebrated by the MAGA / ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ sets”, Martha first came up with the chorus for Want You To Know almost a decade ago, before putting it to tape in, “an uncharacteristically hot Glasgow summer”. The result has a delightfully summery feel, the whole thing engulfed in an almost heat haze, dripping with wistful memories and a gently psychedelic quality. As with After The Fact, there’s a subtle re-imagination of Martha’s sound going on; the sounds of 60’s-pop and Americana that were the hallmark of Sunday Best replaced by a newly technicolour sonic pallet, as easy guitars, processed vocals and twitching electronics come to the fore.
Amid all the nostalgia and electro-pop perfection, there lies a certain sense of unease, the feeling that a bubble is about to burst, clinging onto the past can only last so long, a change is undeniably coming your way: “come, witness the end of pageantry, the cult is coming to your street”. Like all the best pop-songs the gorgeous sheen is masking something here, when Martha Ffion unveils her Nights To Forget it might well be one of the year’s most eye opening musical highlights.
Nights To Forget is out August 14th via Lost Map.
The Fat Angel Sings 