In the ’90s, women in music were really finally making their mark in a very male domination industry. There are so many to name, from soloists Cheryl Crow, Fiona Apple, Alanis More-upset, Tori Amos, Juliana Hatfield, Liz Phair, and Sarah McLachlan to strong female fronted bands like Garbage, Elastica, Curve, Magnapop, Lush, POE, Portishead, Cocteau Twins, and the list goes on.
For some reason, it seems like the only females getting attention in this decade need to have a stylist, a belly ring and a slew of slave PAs—all of which have nothing at all to do with songwriting and musical talent.
Thankfully, there are few gems being discovered in the mines and highways of this U.S. Charlotte Martin is one of them. In the soloist category, this chick could easily give the Grammy judges a run for their money if she was given the opportunity to run against Nora Jones.
With more bite than her golden locks seem her capable of, that tranquil Tori Amos twilight of piano and honey drenched vocals have an underlying tide of surging mystery on “Steel,” while an almost Depeche Mode, chunky bass rhythm builds the foundation for “Limits of Our Love.” On Your Shore goes from candlelight to smoking gun in the blink of a bridge shift and a track change, from the layered energy of “Haunted” to the stripped down, warm cabernet version of Rolling Stone’s “Wild Horses,” where her accapella song soars to the skies.
Going one step beyond songwriting, Charlotte expanded her creative control by building her own studio and producing this album along with Ken Andrews from Failure/ON fame, a man that is also deserving so much more recognition than he’s ever received.
Charlotte Martin opens for Sondre Lerche this Saturday, May 22 at the Fox Theatre. Make sure to get their early for this songstress, or you’ll be kicking our ass when she’s playing bigger venues for twice the $$.
