From South Africa to New Zealand, singer-songwriter and thought-provoking recording artist Lee Martin releases her beautiful new single, "Daydreaming."
Known for impacting the music scene with her sincere and conceptual lyrical content and storytelling approach, Lee Martin quickly saw success after releasing her first two albums that received ample radio airplay. Through inspirations like Van Morrison, Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, and Leonard Cohen, Martin's old soul are able to shine through on every stunning release.
With a sound that easily glides between soul, folk, rock, blues, and country, listeners can clearly hear those influences through her latest lush single, "Daydreaming." Lee Martin returned to her African roots and recorded the gospel backing vocals in Johannesburg, South Africa. The song is incredibly emotional and takes us back to a boy's childhood where Lee Martin encourages him to stand tall on his feet.
Expanding on the new release, "Daydreaming," the song softly opens with a reverbed and distant electric guitar picking and Lee Martin's soothing vocals that chill the spine. As she begins to sing of a little boy's childhood and the fears that linger him, Martin reminds the boy that "Daydreaming" and thinking these negative scenarios won't do him any good.
As we transition to the song's second half, the soft and delicate instrumentals continue their soothing pace while soulful, gospel background vocals accompany Lee Martin's to up the emotion and heart. As she reminds the little boy to wave goodbye to the lies he was told as a child; Martin closes the song with immense emotion to demonstrate how we grow past such tribulations.
Let your heart be heard with Lee Martin's latest single, "Daydreaming," now available on all digital streaming platforms.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Lee Martin. We truly appreciate the poignant and compelling theme within your latest single, "Daydreaming." What inspired such moving and emotional lyrical content?
This song was inspired through my own realization of certain things I was taught in my life, to only later in my life view things differently. I had a moment where I was looking at a group of children playing and observing the way they interacted. The thought came to mind that if adults acted like that it would be socially unacceptable, yet there was something so beautiful in the honesty of their innocence. This song is sung to a little boy, and it plays to the fact that we get taught certain things in our childhood that we might later discover not to be true. This ranges from simple things like the Easter Bunny to more indoctrinated things like religion. It also speaks to how we are taught to grow up, or boys to toughen up before it is natural. I guess in short, it is about the loss of innocence. What was your songwriting process like for "Daydreaming?" What core message did you want to stand out within your lyrics?
I was playing around on my electric guitar with this ethereal spacey sound when the lyrics just came to me suddenly. I think the song was written from start to finish in less than 30 minutes! I guess the core message is to let people be and grow into the humans they need to be. The "Amazing Grace" vocal section was sung by Tracey-Lee Oliver and recorded at Jazzworx studios in Johannesburg. This part of the song always gives me goosebumps. I wanted Amazing Grace in the song to play on the religious aspect of the story, which really is just a symbol for any type of indoctrination. I also love Amazing Grace, there's just something about it!
What was it like working with Chris Ward and Tematera Smith for "Daydreaming?" How did they help execute the vision you had in mind?
It was an absolute dream working with Chris and Tematera and recording at the wonderful Redroom Studios in Auckland. They knew exactly what sound I was going for and it was during this process with them that we decided to have the backing vocals recorded in South Africa, going back to my African roots. We work so well together as a team, there is a big respect for each song and our aim is always to get the best out of the song, no ego's involved
How do songs like "Daydreaming" help new listeners get to know who you are and the music you create?
I am a storyteller and "daydreaming" is a great example of this. I love connecting with people through my songs and my stories hopefully that is the message that comes through when listening to this song.
What's next for you?
"Daydreaming" is the third and final single before the release of my full 12-track album "Gypsy Soul" due for release on the 25th of February. "Gypsy Soul" is my Sophomore album and is an incredibly personal piece of work. Additional Backing vocals recorded and arranged in South Africa add layers of stunning texture which grounds the album in my African heritage whilst still paying homage to Southern US Layered harmonies in a Soul and even gospel style. This album is also available on vinyl and Bone white limited edition vinyl which I am super excited about. Following the album, I will be touring the country with my band and hoping to add international dates as soon as the borders allow this. Pre-orders for the album and merch are available via Bandcamp.