Carrie Martin

Until recently I had never heard of Carrie Martin - she is not my normal style of listening, certainly not a rocker – but having heard this, her second, album I think she has a real future. In fact if it weren’t for the Covid times we are living through I think this would have been a natural for Radio 6 and Radio 2 airplay.

Essentially, she is a singer/songwriter with a voice in the soprano range but with some real underlying depth to her voice that takes her away from being a 1-dimensional singer.
She is also a pretty good songwriter in a folky and poppy manner but her songs have some genuine emotional content and ‘Melanie Jane’ is a gorgeous instrumental number with just Carrie on guitar.

She opens the album with the title track and there is a shadowy and eerie feel to her playing but it is her voice, halting and with a hint of fear, that grabs the listener. The song has a hint of Kate Bush about it but she keeps it anchored in a place that is within most listeners grasp. It really is a great way to open the album.

The other real highpoints include ‘Sacred River’ – beautifully picked guitar and shimmering vocals, really intense – and ‘She Wore White’ where she has full band accompaniment, backing vocals and a really fresh and vivacious feel to it.
‘Time After Time’ (the Cyndie Lauper number) which features Gordon Giltrap is so far away from the original that you would hardly recognize it. She draws far more from the lyrics than Lauper ever did and adds a faintly uneasy feel to the song.

Her band includes Ash Wilson (Sari Schorr & Ash Wilson Band) playing lead guitar on 'Your Love Is The Sweetest', Dave 'Bucket' Colwell (Bad Company, Samson) lead guitar on 'Waterfall' & 'Talk In Colours', Jim Waltham on bass & Mikey Scott of drums and, where called on, they do a sterling job but it really is the voice and presence of Carrie Martin that the album is about.
Wayne Proctor co-produced and mixed/mastered the album.

It is an excellent album, well away from the average and well worth investigating.