05 November 2021 - 0 Comments

AAA Records (Troy Kingi, French For Rabbits, Albi & The Wolves, Outside In), are proud to announce a new album by Lee Martin.

South African born Lee, now resident in Christchurch, has 2 previous albums under her belt which gained her international success around the world.

“Martin is an old soul with a versatile writing style which allows her to cross genres as she glides easily between folk, rock, blues and country, all the while maintaining her unique sound” - HouseofProg.com

Lee’s first recordings in New Zealand were released by AAA Records to high acclaim as the Lost Girl EP in 2019. As part of this, Falling Down was released as a ground-breaking 360-degree VR video which allows the viewer to move inside the video to look at different aspects and discover up to eight Lee’s performing at the same time.

With the support of AAA Records, Lee has been able to complete her first album project in New Zealand - Gypsy Soul. Lee talks about the process:

"Working with TeMatera (Matt Smith, AAA Records) and Chris Ward (Chris and the Kingsmen), has been such an honour as they took the songs and shaped them into a soulful direction.

Chris knew the songs like the back of his hands and put a lot of thought into every single one. He also plays electric guitar on the tracks, plus the invaluable glockenspiel! TeMatera called on the big guns with some of NZ’s best musicians to come play on my album and they absolutely took on a life of their own. He also pushed me to deliver my best no matter what it took. We started drawing on Motown influences and somewhere in the process, we had the great idea of incorporating gospel voices for the backing vocals. This led to the next brilliant idea, to go back to my African roots and have it done in South Africa at Jazzworx studios in Johannesburg.”

On the first single What If I Die Lee says “I played a gig one night at a corporate event and was seated next to a man that I got talking to. He ended up telling me that his biggest regret was never taking his wife to Paris when that was her one dream. They always had excuses, kids, house, finances, the usual. When they finally were able to go, she became terminally ill, and they never got to go before she died. This story really touched me, and I realized how important it is to do the things you want to do and not postpone your life. Things can change so quickly, and opportunities can be missed. I’ve always wanted to see the painting by Van Gogh, Starry Night, in real life and it has also always been my dream to go to the Greek Islands. So of course, I decided to delay no longer and make it happen. I booked my tickets for New York and Greece which were both in 2020. Of course, then Covid hit and neither dream came true. This song is about bucket lists and the things we want to do. “What if I die, without ever seeing Starry night”. “Starry night” is the metaphor for whatever your bucket list might be.”

The album features Lee Martin (Vocals, Guitar), Chris Ward (Electric Guitar, Percussion), Marika Hodgson (Bass), Forrest Thorp (Keyboards, Trumpet), Adam Tobeck (Drums) and TeMatera Smith (Percussion).

Watch the video for What If I Die HERE

Pre Save the album HERE

Lee Martin Gypsy Soul Tour

March 26th Nelson Marchfest

March 27th Blenheim House Concert

April 2nd Timaru Hector Blacks

April 8th Hokitika Gatherer

April 9th Barrytown Barrytown Hall

Tickets from www.undertheradar.co.nz

You can also catch Lee at OGB’s in Christchurch

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