News of Billie Marten‘s fifth studio album “Dog Eared” is a warm, rich, and textured record that bristles with confidence and self-belief. It’s a left turn from her previous recordings, albeit a subtle one, taken with a deftness of touch. A musician embracing change, while staying true to her core self. With “Dog Eared“, Billie calmly posits herself at the top of the tree of not just British contemporary folk artists, but with British songwriters at large.
‘Dog Eared’ is a warm, rich, and textured record that bristles with confidence and self-belief, with Billie already approaching the prolificacy of a ‘lifer’ with so much life left to live.
It’s a left turn from her previous recordings, albeit a subtle one, taken with a deftness of touch. A musician embracing change, while staying true to her core self. There’s a certain strength of conviction here that finds its voice more prominently in the extensive pool of her acclaimed American contemporaries, of which she now surely stands shoulder to shoulder with. With ‘Dog Eared’, Billie calmly posits herself at the top of the tree of not just British contemporary folk artists, but with British songwriters at large.
The prolific British singer-songwriter headed to New York in the summer of 2024 to record with producer, Phil Weinrobe (Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Laura Veirs) at his Sugar Mountain studio, alongside an all-star cast of musicians. The likes of Catalan singer-songwriter/guitarist Núuria Graham, bassist Josh Crumbly, virtuosic guitarist Mike Haldeman, multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily, revered indie-rock musician Sam Evian, former Dirty Projectors vocalist/folk musician Maia Friedman, Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco, drummer/multi-instrumentalist Vishal Nayak, and acclaimed folk musician Sam Amidon all sprinkle their gold dust over “Dog Eared”.
Billlie Marten has shared the new single from her upcoming LP “Dog Eared”, the rootsy, wonderful ‘Swing’. “I wanted it to sound like the Meat Puppets-meets-The Breeders,” the singer-songwriter remarked. “I think we got pretty close without sharing any influences in the studio. This one’s funny because we had Mauro Refosco (who does percussion on nearly every song) try out lots of different things, and in the end, producer Phil just turned all of his tracks up at once and what you’re hearing is every pass that he did. It’s awesome. The bass is also supremely loud. The last addition to the record was Sam Amidon with his fiddle part, which the song would be nothing without.”
The Fat Angel Sings 