Billie Marten Warms Hearts In London
London, December 8th, 2023
It was a freezing cold December night in London, but Koko in Camden was warmed by singer-songwriter Billie Marten’s delicate yet powerful set celebrating her folksy fourth album Drop Cherries, released earlier this year.
With the stage warmed up by singer-songwriter Clara Mann, Marten tactfully eases into playing the 1,500 capacity venue with tracks from her second and third albums, with fan favourite “Garden of Eden”, followed by “Creature of Mine” and “Mice” so that the crowd can shake off the cold night air with their old favourites.
Exploring social commentary, nature, and relationships, her setlist was purposefully constructed to showcase the best of what Marten has to offer. Everything from the lighting design to the moment taken to re-tune her guitar seemed gently deliberate, from the live strings and double bass, to the way she managed to keep her sound solidly in indie-folk naturalism, despite the technically-challenging artistic lighting and huge crowd; you get the feeling you’d get the same experience seeing her perform at a big venue like this and in a tiny pub in the countryside.
With the crowd comfortably in the zone, she dives into the Drop Cherries-focused section of the set. Marten has previously said of the way she explores love on her fourth album: ‘Imagine stamping blood-red cherries onto a clean, cream carpet and tell me that’s not how love feels.’ Seeing her perform these songs live proves she’s right.
She pours her heart out on stage, performing many songs alone with just a guitar for company. She softly sings her way through the tracks “God Above”, “This Is How We Move” and “Devil Swim” - all of which the audience listened to with rapt attention. The tracks on this fourth album feel visceral and earthy, which Marten previously said was a deliberate move while she was recording the album in rural Somerset and Wales.
She treats the crowd to some unreleased tracks, titled “Crown” and “Swing”, which we can only hope are a hint at a future EP or album release. Gentle and reserved, she spoke softly in between songs, even when hyping up the crowd and splitting them into teams for a sing off (Team B won with their high harmony, by the way). Ending the main part of the set with “Arrows”, “Willow” and “Nothing But Mine”, Marten captures the spirit of the album, bringing the focus back to the vibrancy and unpredictability of love.
The band returned for the encore, all of them performing into one mic for the incredible “Acid Tooth”. They finished the set with crowd pleasers “La Lune” and “Liquid Love”, before ending on one of her most successful songs to date, “I Can’t Get My Head Around You”, which captures the warm, fuzzy feeling of arriving home - a perfect send off for her last gig of the year.
Marten’s deliberate, gentle and careful performance is reflective of her work. She’s a treat to see live, and if the unreleased tracks she performed are anything to go by, we can expect more dreamy indie-folk on the horizon soon.