Prior to the release of her latest album, “Drop Cherries,” I had the opportunity to chat with Billie Marten about her new album, influences, and emotions that drive behind the work.

According to Marten, the main theme of the album is to love yourself before others, something that she said she has struggled to do,  and the general feeling of being or feeling love. This is a very personal album in every way. Marten describes the album as, “fascinating, hilarious, ethereal, grunge, whimsical, lyrical.” This is in contrast to her previous album, “Flora Fluna,” which she described as, “more of a linear album.” 

The record is set to drop on April 7th, 2023. The album’s title, “Drop Cherries,” originates from a conversation Marten had with a close friend about relationships. The friend frequently used the term “drop cherries” to reference the feeling of being appreciated and loved in her relationships.

She quoted the phrase as a connection, “an image I would like to be born.” In other words, she feels self conscious around other people because she wants to feel love and appreciation around others she cares about. 

Hence, the last song of the 13-track album has the same title. She describes the song as a “perfect argumentation of all the things”. 

Marten shared that there is a lot of imagery and structure on the album. In terms of structure, she created the track list and put the songs in order based on her emotions. The opening song, “New Idea,” describes finding something new and progresses to the last song, “Drop Cherries” where she is at a point in the relationship where she wants to feel loved. Throughout the album, another phrase she describes as a conflict to back up her emotions, “Dealing with my stubbornness and people’s personalities and trying to understand myself.

 Her favorite songs on the album are, “I Can’t Get My Head Around You” and “Falling in Love”.  

Additionally, in terms of imagery, Marten elaborated on a description of smells and scents of nature that emotionally relate to the album. Marten illustrates, ““if I could bottle three scents and smells of nature, it would have to be something very classic and English. Grass with a little thoughtlessness in there. Red wine. I love the smell of hardware shops. And something light, salt or sea spray or jasmine” 

Marten also described some of her biggest influences in music. She is an avid fan of vinyl records, and her favorite album is “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Simon and Garfunkel. Musician John Martin was also one of her biggest influences. She recalled his influence on her career, saying “My dad’s favorite musician is John Martin, it is an ode to my dad. Dad and mine’s favorite musician.”