For Essence Martins, songwriting is a search for truth. A creative and imaginative child who loved drawing, storytelling and getting lost in her own world, she eventually found in music the form of self-expression that made the most sense – and a way of accessing emotions she doesn’t always understand until they find their way into a song.
Her forthcoming EP, It All Comes To End, draws from diaries, relationships and experiences spanning the past four years, with its seven songs forming individual snapshots of love, heartbreak, identity, money and expectation. From the memories woven through ‘Red Velvet’ to new single ‘A Confession (I’m Broke)’, which playfully punctures the illusion of having everything together, the record captures an artist learning to be present, embrace imperfection and take control of her own story.
That sense of agency has followed Essence since she left a tennis scholarship in the US and returned home to pursue music, putting herself “in the driver’s seat” of her life for the first time. We caught up with her to talk about songwriting as self-discovery, finding freedom in honesty, learning from the artists she’s shared stages with and why, ultimately, she wants her music to make people feel truly seen. Read the Q&A below.
For anyone discovering Essence Martins for the first time through this interview, how would you describe yourself as an artist – and what is it about songwriting that you feel compelled to keep coming back to?
“I was always a creative kid. I had a whimsical imagination and I loved to draw and create any type of art. I wasn’t great at English in school but I adored the creative writing classes. My mind would often be away with the fairies until something pulled me back down to earth. Telling stories and self expression is a big part of who I am and songwriting is the best way I know how! I think I write in search of the truth so a lot of my artistry is based around my honest feelings and thoughts which are constantly changing and evolving. There’s so much to navigate in this life so there’s so much that brings me back to songwriting!”
Before pursuing music, you were on a tennis scholarship in the US and ultimately made the decision to return home and follow songwriting instead. Do you remember the point when making music stopped feeling like something you loved and became something you knew you needed to pursue?
“Yes! When I came home after my freshman year I quite literally had all day and night to learn my favourite songs, work on my songwriting, get better at piano and guitar and more importantly watch my favourite live performances on YouTube for hours. The time spent doing all of that really showed me what I felt I needed to do. I became so inspired watching artists on my screen living a dream that felt so far away and after some months the penny dropped and I got in the drivers seat in my own life for the first time.”
Emotional honesty seems to sit at the heart of your songwriting, with your upcoming EP It All Comes To End drawing from diaries, relationships and experiences from the past four years. Does writing give you access to feelings or parts of yourself that you sometimes find harder to understand outside of music?
“It does! I feel like my songwriting often knows me better than I do! It sometimes feels like a portal to my own emotions that I haven’t even yet realised or processed. I can write a song where I’m not really sure what it’s about and then after a few months realise so clearly what situation I was talking about or what experience I’m pulling from. I think it helps me be brutally honest in a way you wouldn’t in real life. You can write a song that’s truthful or fictional and no one really knows but you, and that allows you to go really deep or playful without it feeling too personal because it’s a song after all and it doesn’t have to be serious or true if you say it isn’t.”
‘Red Velvet’ captures how tiny, everyday things can become loaded with meaning after we lose someone. Are you naturally someone who holds onto those little details and memories, and do you think that shapes the kind of songwriter you’ve become?
“I love to reminisce and I especially love to hold onto fond memories. I think I’m good at that but when it comes to something negative I’m rather good at forgetting – It’s funny how our brains protect us! What I’m trying to say is that I’m selective about what I choose to remember and what I forget and it likely does shape what I write about!”
‘A Confession (I’m Broke)’ is funny and playful, but underneath it is a very real experience of looking like you’re doing well while privately struggling to make ends meet. As an artist in an industry where visibility and appearances can feel so important, was there something freeing about puncturing that illusion and simply saying, “Actually, this is what my life looks like”?
“I had so much fun writing and producing this song with Jay!! It was definitely a highlight for me! It was so fun to feel completely free in the studio and just speak my mind. After we wrote it though I wondered if it was too honest and had a few doubts but I just enjoyed the process so much and knew that an honest message like this would resonate with people so we had to run with it! There’s so much beauty and strength in honesty and it’s important to puncture the illusion of perfection every now and then we’re all humans just trying to get by.”
You’ve described It All Comes To End as a lesson you’re still learning yourself – that life is finite, so we should live it – and talked about wanting to become the “front seat driver” in your own story. Do you feel that making these songs has helped you understand what taking control of your own life actually looks like?
“There’s always gonna be lessons to learn and I’m sure there will be in every song or EP I put out. But I still feel like I’m in a very formative part in my career so everything feels so dramatic and far away and like you’re running out of time. So because of that it’s so important to remind ourselves to slow down, be in the moment but also don’t let life pass you by. Each song has a little lesson and the EP encompasses the idea that life is precious so we must take control and be present. I think that I’m learning how to be that more and more with every project I put out.”
You’ve spent a lot of time performing alongside other artists over the last few years. What have those experiences taught you about the kind of performer you want to be when you step onto a stage as Essence Martins – and what does sharing such personal songs with an audience give you in return?
“I’ve been so privileged to open for so many incredible artists in the last few years such as Rachel Chinouriri, Maisie Peters, Ellie Goulding, MIKA and so many more. I even had the opportunity to play in Birdy’s band. I’ve been able to watch and learn how they hold themselves on stage and how they give so much to an audience. I’ve been inspired so many times and I’m learning how to do that myself in my own way. It’s truly been an honour to witness.
“I know that I want to be the type of performer who leaves an audiences feeling hopeful and inspired but also one that provokes thought and deep emotion. I want people to feel bigger when they leave a show than when they came in.
“If I can do that, that’ll be the best gift I can receive, a genuine mutual understanding between two people.”
As your music reaches more people, what do you hope someone finds in your songs that perhaps you once needed to find in music yourself?
“Woahhh what a question! I hope that people find true understanding. There’s nothing quite as beautiful as truly being seen. The human condition is so complex but our experiences all overlap and when we find that sweet spot of perfect compassion, empathy and understanding, we will all be okay.”
It All Comes To An End is out October 29.
