Charlie Martin - Imaginary People

Somebody Likes It

Charlie Martin's pandemic experience has been much like the rest of ours, until it wasn't.

Martin, one half of the having-an-indie-moment act Hovvdy, spent much of the first two COVID years huddled up with his Mrs, tethered to extended family from afar, until they deemed such time safe (or safe enough) to venture out.

Imaginary People, Martin's solo LP, emerges as an exploration of perspective, or should we say, 'perspectives, both real and imagined.' Which is to say that the way Martin navigated the slow passage of the pandemic was to conjure stories of characters, examine his own experience, to wonder and encourage himself to create.

Serendipity plays a role here: it just so happens that an 1870s Steinway grand piano has tenure at Martin's Mother-In-Law's house in Mississippi, and those keys flavor the record often.

Ultimately, it's worth noting that the offending review I note during this show came from KOOP (not KCRW). I wasn't sure how this record would land with Ryan and Mark, how we'd identify with this menagerie of hazy sonic portraits, but one thing's for certain. Charlie Martin can spin a yarn.

Listen to the album on Spotify

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