Billie Marten has announced a UK tour including Manchester gig at Gorilla to follow the release of new album Drop Cherries.
Billie Marten will release her fourth album Drop Cherries on 7 April before her tour opens just weeks later in Belfast.
The Manchester gig is one of 9 UK and Ireland dates she will headline.
Recorded entirely on tape in Somerset and Wales late last summer, Drop Cherries marks the very first time that Billie Marten has both written and co-produced (with Dom Monks) one of her records. The album features the lead single This Is How We Move, which she describes as “A song about finding the natural rhythm and pacing between two people. Working together and flowing as one – the relationship dance. John Martyn / JJ Cale ease of recording. Double bass Nick Pini. ‘You keep the garden, and I’ll take the view, this is how we move.’ Different wants and needs, catering for each other’s happiness. DESERVING TO BE LOVED.”
The album finds Billie Marten trusting in her own instincts. “When I’m trying to write, the creative door is closed most of the time,” she says. “When it briefly opens, I know I’ve stumbled across moments of true emotion and insight; they give no warning and are often unpredictable. I can’t force the process, something I’m realising more with each album. And that’s why I know that Drop Cherries is a collection of songs expressing genuine intuitive feeling.”
The title is taken from a tale she heard from a friend just before she was starting to create songs for the album, and the title track came soon after. It’s a metaphor where the gift of cherries stands for offering someone your love; doing anything you can to make them happy. “Dropping cherries,” she begins, “is such a strong, visceral image that I tried to channel throughout recording in Somerset and Wales, to capture the vibrancy, unpredictability, and occasional chaos one experiences within a relationship.”
“Imagine stamping blood-red cherries onto a clean, cream carpet and tell me that’s not how love feels.”
When does Billie Marten headline at Manchester’s Gorilla?
Billie Marten headlines at Gorilla, Manchester, on 16 May 2023. The Manchester gig is one of nine dates she has announced:
13 May – Belfast, Deers Head
14 May – Dublin, Button Factory
16 May – Manchester, Gorilla
17 May – Bristol, Thekla
20 May – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
22 May – Nottingham, Rescue Rooms
23 May – Newcastle, The Cluny
24 May – Glasgow, St Luke’s
26 May – London, Lafayette
