Billie Marten

Born Isabella Sophie Tweddle in North Yorkshire, England, the artist who performs as Billie Marten developed her delicate, lyrical indie-folk approach while still very young, first attracting notice through a YouTube clip posted at age twelve in 2011 that quickly surpassed 100,000 views. Comparisons to fellow English folk performers Laura Marling and Lucy Rose began to surface after her debut EP appeared in 2014. A second EP followed the next year once she signed with Chess Club Records, and the singles “Bird” and “Heavy Weather” earned her a nomination for the BBC Sound of 2016. Her first full-length album, Writing of Blues & Yellows, arrived that September and drew widespread praise for its intricate, woeful, and ethereal qualities, frequently evoking the work of Kate Bush and Nick Drake.

The 2018 singles “Mice” and “Blue Sea, Red Sea” previewed her sophomore effort, which she recorded on four-track with producer Ethan John at his Bath, U.K., residence and released in mid-2019 as Feeding Seahorses by Hand after the additional tracks “Cartoon People” and “Betsy.” Elements of pop and Krautrock entered her sound on the 2021 album Flora Fauna while the lyrics remained introspective; a four-song Acoustic EP appeared that November. Early in 2023 she introduced her fourth album with the single “This Is How We Move,” written and co-produced with Dom Monks in Somerset and Wales, before Drop Cherries reached listeners that April.