“Church Street” – Martyrs
With (literally) no introduction, “Church Street” feels like a story joined in the middle. As the song unfolds, the lyrics solidify, somewhat, into a bittersweet, literarily-told tale of lost love, but it’s the music (steady rhythms, well-constructed melodies) and vocals (vulnerable tenor) that grab the ear independent of the narrative. The frisky, percussive tempo belies the melancholy in the air; the wistful call-and-response of the pre-chorus amplifies the yearning vibe, climaxing with the chorus and its central, unmissable lyric: “I said we live in a terrible world.” The story never completely coheres but its being told between the lines renders it all the more effective, to my ears.
There’s an instrumental break roughly in the middle, which not enough songs seem to do anymore. I like how the break ends with things going quiet for a moment or two (2:15) before we are launched into the second half. The drama is further enhanced by us hearing, now, the one and only mention of Church Street, which soon leads to these casual but finely wrought lyrics: “We parted in Cardiff/We knew it’d be hard but/We both felt like it was time.” Impressive combination of internal and external rhyming, that. We are in good hands all the way through.
Martyrs are the Welsh duo of Michael Hall and Jon Howells. They are passionate about their DIY ethos; the Welsh music site “God is in the TV” featured a post by Hall and Howells last month (subtitled “A Handy Guide To Making Zero Money As A Musician”) that took a deep dive into their refreshing stance. “Where we split paths with many bands,” they wrote, “is in the fact that we don’t have any interest in being a part of the music industry, nor any interest in popular or financial success.” I might second that thought here in Philadelphia, and in any case I completely vibe with musicians more concerned with music than fame and fortune. They seem to understand better than most that no one owes a musician a living–a harsh but inevitable fact of life here in the 21st century (and any time, really).
“Church Street” is the title track of a six-song EP the band released in April, an album that they describe as revolving around their hometown of Merthyr Tydfil. (“Merthyr” translates to “martyr” in English.) You can hear the whole thing and buy it (for one British pound) via Bandcamp.
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