Songwriter’s standalone single “Falling
Backwards” is also streaming now. New “Play Me” EP from Martinez’s trio True
Fiction drops June 12.
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Isaac Martinez as photographed by Johnny Singels
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PLAY, POST & SHARE
Isaac Martinez | “Falling Backwards” (feat. bitsutra)
Streaming Link:
STREAM FULL LP
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Track Listing:
01. No One Wants to Drink Alone
02. Time Passes (VIDEO)
03. Killer
04. Infinite Water Glitch (LISTEN)
05. Whiskey
06. Lily White Dove
07. People Problems
08. Cedar Road (WATCH)
09. Poppy
10. One
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Isaac
Martinez | About
“I’m working to become a better person for my wife
and son. Music is the major side quest, you know?”
Denver-based musician Isaac Martinez is the
man behind this candid remark. It is a compelling truth about the reality of
life for any successful father who is also a songwriter seeking success.
Summing up Martinez’s
ceaselessly creative and complicated career is nearly impossible. He began
composing songs at the age of 11, appropriated the guitar his father had bought
for his sister soon after, and was studying the instrument in a conservatory by
high school.
Martinez is prolific to the point of confusion, and his
tendency to obsessively work on material for years in a multitude of genres,
then release it, and then mysteriously wipe it from the internet, is part of
his artistic charm.
Regardless, some tunes are too important not to
last.
For the first time, following years of operating
under aliases, more than a dozen DIY releases since 2016 alone, and a detour to
Los Angeles that spawned a Brockhampton and Beatles-inspired band
that had just enough momentum after four years to justify an implosion, Martinez has finally released the work
he is most proud of.
He should be.
10 Country Songs is the first record that Martinez feels worthy of being dropped everywhere under what he
refers to as his “government” name. The album was produced by Martinez alongside the A-list
assistance of engineers Andy Flebbe (Green Day) and Grammy®-winner Jerry Ordonez (Bon Iver,
Waxahatchee).
True to Martinez’s
eclectic nature, the album’s title is a tiny red herring as the record isn’t
even necessarily ten country songs.
It is an amalgam of the unsorted and ubiquitous
intellectual and emotional influences on Martinez
(including those of his wife, son, and relationship with God) and his
just-as-many musical ones. It represents what matters most to Martinez, i.e., not “side
quests.”
Your eyes might glaze over while listening to Martinez gush about influences on his
sound as disparate as Shoegaze, Garage Rock, IDM, Alternative, Americana, Math
Rock, Hip-Hop, Pop, and, yes, Country. It’s a lot to take in. Better to have
your eyes water while listening to Martinez’s
music. It’s also a lot to take in but in the best way.
“How much can I tell you to show you I love you?
Anything I could say! How much could I give to you to show you I meant it?
Anything God could make!,” Martinez
sings on one of the album’s stellar standout tracks “Infinite Water Glitch”.
The song would ring true as a tear-jerking love
tune on its face, but when taken with Martinez’s
previously stated family priorities, his commitment to his instrument, and the
acknowledgment of faith that led it to your ears, this composition becomes
world-class.
“I believe musical ability is a God-given gift
granted generously amongst the people,” he explains. “It is like a soup of
truths that overtakes an entire sense.”
Martinez’s wife Zoe offers some truth soup, too.
Without her insistence, what turns out to be one of Martinez’s signature songs may not have even been made.
“I was playing ‘Time Passes’ at open mics
while Zoe was pregnant with our
first child. She wanted a recording that sounded as good as it did live.”
This request led Martinez to the studio. The results are glorious. The warm
atmosphere created by the song’s heavenly piano touches, combined with Martinez’s close-miked vocal and
underpinned by an insistent snare propelling his overdubbed harmonies, is
absolutely haunting.
“And time passes on your favorite music, 100 years
from now, will they be singing the songs your parents sang or will they even
remember how?”
With this tune, Martinez is giving his “major side quest” a significant chance at
success.10 Country Songs by Isaac Martinez
is streaming everywhere now.
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Isaac Martinez | Links
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Josh Bloom at Fanatic
Promotion | Contact
