Album Review: Dog Eared by Billie Marten

Dog Eared is a raw and reflective return to Billie Marten's famed jazz-infused indie-folk. Journeying between stories and emotions, Marten's songwriting is personal but universal. Feeling opens with a sunny ode to innocence, nature and memory as we're plunged into a new era: 'Sweep the leaves and cut the air'. The forest folk atmosphere is momentarily paused in Crown, where whirring drums meet gentle synths.

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Yorkshire singer-songwriter Billie Marten's sixth LP, ‘Dog Eared’, marks a turn from her penchant for penning pretty folk ditties, establishing her as a mature and lucid lyricist whose poetry is as emotionally grounding as it is uplifting. Recorded last summer in Sugar Mountain Studios, the Brooklyn studio spot frequented by the likes of Adrianne Lenker, Florist and Tomberlin, the record was produced under the trusted hand – and open-door recording policy – of Phil Weinrobe. A circle of musician friends breathe life into Marten's tracks, recording in live takes without headphones whilst stood huddled around each other.

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In the time since 2023's 'Drop Cherries', Billie Marten has spent time on the road, making journeys of exploration, finding new connections, and strengthening old ones; and it's that sense of restless collaboration which infuses the singer-songwriter's fifth album, 'Dog Eared'. Introducing the record with a jangly, hazy lo-fi lilt, 'Feeling' bonds trumpet, pedal steel guitar, piano and percussion with Billie's crisp, easy vocals. 'Crown' and 'Clover' continue the journey in the same style, Marten singing gently but generously.

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