Welsh DIY duo Martyrs have a new single, Grey Wolf Grey, out on 28 October. It follows their Last Summer EP and their collaboration with The Anchoress, whose track As We Once Were got a Martyrs remix that has been played on BBC Radio.
The pair are Jonathan Howells, who writes the music, and Michael J Hall, who writes the words. Grey Wolf Grey is a one-off single that comes after a run of 8 self-produced, self-released EPs. The press note names Nation of Language, The National, New Order, Talk Talk and The Blue Nile as inspirations, and calls it "forward-looking yet retro-tinged", with sky-scraping sounds and a deeply contemplative, heartfelt lyric.
Press for the Last Summer EP has been strong. Adam Walton on BBC Radio Wales called it "really special – echoes of The Bible and early Talk Talk", and Ron Hart at SPIN said "bloody brilliant". The duo say they have been supported by over 170 radio stations worldwide, and the EP was chosen for the monthly playlists of both Creative Wales and Nation Cymru.
A Welsh duo who have put out 8 EPs on their own and still keep pushing the sound somewhere new – that's a track record I'm glad to back. The Talk Talk and Blue Nile influences are a big part of why I wanted this one on the site, and a one-off single after that many EPs seems a good place to start for anyone new to them.
Grey Wolf Grey comes with a music video on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvuB7D51edU and a stream on SoundCloud. More at https://linktr.ee/martyrsmusic