Hollie MartorellaPart of the idea behind setting up this blog was to post tracks on here as soon as they are done (instant feedback, makes me look busy etc). Last night I finished recording a track with Hollie Martorella called ‘Wildcard’…

Hollie & I met at Durham uni where we were both in the band Alba Nova. After the mysterious disappearance of a certain Mr Mankowski to the darker regions of North East England, we started to record a few acoustic tracks together, but this is the first time we have recorded something that began to resemble the previous project’s trademark sound of eerie violins, folky guitars and layered harmonies.

The track is a grower – starting out with just one voice and one guitar, it builds up over the best part of five minutes to include layers of violins and backing vocals, plus a bit of piano. However, none of it seems too intrusive – or as I put it to Hollie (who was more than slightly offended) – “None of the extra sounds coming in would wake you up… in a good way…”