Newcomer Marti imagines the perfect summer on her wistful new single "Mothers & Fathers"

Marti is an exciting new voice weaving her way into the collective consciousness with her innovative approach to songwriting and alluring vocals. Having self-released a number of tracks, her first official releases really begin to showcase her talent.

Embracing the local music, art and nightlife of DC and NYC while travelling the world as a model, Marti set out on a new creative path. During this time she contributed backing vocals to "Smoke", the final track on Blood Orange's Negro Swan, as well as finding time to collaborate with Duckwrth and Kojey Radical, but now it's clear she shines brightest when left to her own devices.

With the release of her new single "Mothers & Fathers" we get to see Marti take on an altogether different role as a wide-eyed storyteller. With its intricate guitar riffs strumming throughout and Marti's warm vocals in the lead, it sounds like a modern-day folk song laced with references to the soul and jazz records on which Marti grew up.

“This song and video are about the freedom of youth. The freedom to simply exist,” Marti explains. “We often find ourselves in a complex or “forbidden” love as one of our first experiences of romance, with all the desire to rebel and pressure to conform. I wanted to paint that story here.”

Its music video maps out Marti's creative vision for a film which celebrates black joy, but doesn't use race as the central theme. A carefree road trip, afternoons by the lake and other quintessential fragments of a dream-like American summer are captured in all their glory complete with Marti and her cast of real-life friends.

“Our blackness is a huge piece of who we are in the diaspora,” Marti explains. “But we are multidimensional beings and we do not have to centre that in every piece of it just because society has. It’s okay to just “be” no matter what that “be” may actually be.”

"Mothers & Fathers" is the follow-up to her debut single "Lust", which was released in support and celebration of sex workers and their rights and freedoms. As Marti continues to unveil her art, it's clear she has means to communicate her often urgent and poignant messages with unifying and effortless charm.