18 July 2023 - 0 Comments

Babe Martin is the project of Zoë Larsen-Cumming (she/her), musician and songwriter based in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland).

Babe Martin skilfully crafts sparse arrangements, mainly piano and cello, that carry her stories leaving listeners tenderly gut wrenched. Her compositions are restrained, perfectly formed without over indulgence, giving the listener just enough without overindulging, a masterful touch for a musician so early in their career.

Today Babe Martin shares Versoix, the title track from her upcoming debut The Versoix EP (out digitally on September 7 via Sunreturn). Versoix follows the release of her critically praised debut single Knocked For Six In BHX, and its subsequent sold out release show.

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Babe Martin descibes Versoix as a 'memory song,' something akin to a dream - made all the more poignant through the use of looping rhodes, cello played by by Antonia Barnett McIntosh, drums by Courtney Rodgers and very guitar washes provided by Jazmine Mary.

"The forest of Versoix (les Bois de Versoix) was just down the road from where I lived in Switzerland in my teens," says Larsen-Cumming. "I spent a lot of my time there, in all seasons. Versoix, which is just outside of Geneva, has incredibly distinct seasons and I enjoyed going to the woods and watching them change. In winter it was so cold that the water from the lake would splash up and freeze on the trees and the footpath, and in summer it was so hot that everyone would be swimming and having drinks on the pebbles by the water. There was a river and squirrels and every shade of green (and supposedly beavers but I never saw any). It was one of those spots that I loved so much at the time, and in hindsight has only become more meaningful and symbolic."

"The song is a snapshot of a time in your life where you're almost an adult, but not quite, and everything is shifting simultaneously very quickly and very slowly. For me it serves as a memento of that time, the places I would go, the friends I went there with. I had the most incredible friends in Switzerland and we all bonded from being in the same French-second-language class at the local high school. Even though the lyrics don't mention people, it lays out and describes the landscape that this time of my life played out on. It's very much dedicated to those friends, and that time. Something to remember it by."

Larsen-Cumming reflects "I love this song so much. When I hear it or play it live, I just think of that time and those friends, it's a lovely feeling. And now sharing it with new friends and the people in my life now, it's really quite special."

Photo Creidt: Courtney Rodgers

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