Billie Marten talks Flora Fauna

Acclaimed British singer-songwriter and musician Billie Marten releases her much-anticipated third album, Flora Fauna, later this month. Our editor, Bobby Townsend, asked her to tell us about it, and about her lockdown experience:

Hi Billie. Thanks for taking the time to talk to us. The past 12 months have been tough haven’t they? Where have you been based during the various lockdowns?

Hello! I’ve actually had a really lovely time, despite all the chaos and demise and what not. When the first lockdown happened I escaped up North to my parents’ place, only for the weekend actually, but then we got the announcement and I ended up staying for nearly 6 months. It was beautiful, I got so much sunshine and relief from everything and I really sorted my head out. So for purely selfish reasons, it’s all been great.

How have these difficult times affected your creative processes? Were you writing/recording your new album, Flora Fauna, during the pandemic and lockdowns, and what challenges did that present?

The album began before lockdown, so I’ve had most of these songs with me for nearly two years, but some (Walnut) were squeezed on just before the recording began, so the whole thing spans a lot of time. Me and Rich (Cooper, producer) managed to get in the studio last summer and we recorded the whole thing in around 10 days, just us two, with the help of friends coming in and adding in their flourishes now and again. It was a wonderful experience and we didn’t have any outside input which was a blessing.

Would you say that Flora Fauna represents a shift in your sound and, if so, did you set out with that intention before you started creating it, or did it just happen organically during the course of writing and recording?

It was definitely an active shift, I was unhappy with a lot of things at the time; personally and musically, so it all just culminated in this sort of sonic eruption I guess. I wanted to make a bigger sound come out of me, I was so tired of whispering and singing very introspectively and sombrely. It’s incredibly liberating to evolve sometimes.

How are you feeling now you’re about to send Flora Fauna into the world? Nervous? Excited? Or have you already started thinking about your next project?

For the last two album releases I deliberately downplayed the whole affair, which meant I suppressed all of those good emotions – the excitement and the relief and the chance to sit and look back and be fully proud of yourself, so this time around I’m making a sure-fire effort to do that, putting albums out in general is SUCH an honour and I’m so glad I’m still doing it.

Will you hit the road in support of the new album, once things have opened up properly again? Have you missed playing in front of live audiences?

We’re starting tour mid-September, so we should be safe by then, and then festivals are getting booked in to follow in October, so it’s actually turning out to be quite a busy year. I struggle with gigs sometimes, because each time all the elements are so different and there are so many factors to get used to in each room/tent, but I’m feeling like everyone will be in the same boat this time round and all people want to do is just share an experience communally again, so I’m just going to throw myself into everything and see what happens.

Has life thrown you any highlights since Covid happened? Any surprising moments of levity and enjoyment that you weren’t expecting, and do you think there is anything you will take from lockdown life into normal life?

I’ve definitely settled into life now that we all had chance to pause, I moved into a new flat I love and actually fell in love, which is all very sweet and saccharine but there you go, sometimes things are.

What are you listening to/reading/watching at the moment? Any hot tips for us?

Listening to: After doing so much cooking and menial household tasks this year I’ve needed things I can switch off with, so I’ve been listening to a lot of Dominique Dumont, the Off Menu podcast with Ed Gamble and James Acaster (Domnall Gleason a very good one in particular), and a heck of a lot of Radio 4.

Reading: I did so much reading in the beginning, all I was doing was ordering off Abe Books (best place to buy from independent shops btw) and just getting through them each week. Now that we’re closer to the album I’ve been getting rather busy so haven’t had time to read much of late, but, the last thing I read and loved was On Being Blue by William H. Gass and it was the most beautiful thing.

Watching: Line of Duty! So basic of me but we’ve really fallen into it, and I hadn’t seen any of it before so we started from the beginning and we’re hooked. Also, a lot of NPR tiny desks.

Tell us something we would be surprised to learn about you…

I’m really rather ordinary, ha. I’m left handed? How boring of me!

Thanks Billie! What are you going to do now that you’ve finished this interview?

It’s sunny over here right now so spending as much time outside as possible, most likely lying in the sun. Thanks for having me x

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Billie’s album, Flora Fauna, is out on May 21 via Fiction Records / Virgin Music Australia. You can pre-order here.

Interview by Bobby Townsend.