Nashville, Tennessee’s folk-pop singer-songwriter Marta Palombo is captivating her audience with her new EP release 'HIM, VOL. 1.' Born in Florence, Italy, Marta grew up writing poetry until she ended up in Nashville where she writes, records and performs her original songs. She uses the folk-pop genre to share life’s stories with her fans. With her new EP, Marta’s goal was to create chapters of a storybook with each song; “Forget What They See” is certainly a song about true love and resilience.
“Forget What They See” immediately captivates fans with its tranquil background music. It begins as something you would normally hear at a spa; somber flute tones combined with small wind chimes and vocalized melodies. After thirty seconds of serenity, Marta Palombo adds her soft voice into the mix along with a piano played at a high octave. The chorus introduces cymbal rolls followed by violins which add emotion and authenticity to the song. MartaPalombo transitions smoothly between magnificently powerful instrumentals and soft vocals. Lyrically, she sings about her lover and ignoring the judgments and opinions of others when it comes to her relationship. She shares with her audience her belief that nobody knows about someone’s relationship better than the people involved in it. When she sings “Forget What They See,” Marta shows her audience just how much versatility she has with her vocals; her voice is either mighty and deep, or soft and echoey. Marta’s concoction of instruments has been created to trigger real feelings from her audience, and her soulful delivery only adds to it. With “Forget What They See,” Marta Palombowill leaves her fans wanting to hear every chapter of her EP 'HIM, VOL. 1.'
Listen to 'HIM, VOL. 1' here.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Marta! We were obsessed with your choice of instrumentals in “Forget What They See.” Can you elaborate on how you chose these specific instruments to piece together such an intricate sound?
Sure! I came into the studio with the harmonies for the vocal intro and outro already planned out. Once we had recorded the basic track (piano and lyrics), we started stacking layer upon layer of harmonies. Somewhere along the way, Greg suggested that we have those lyrical echoes on the pre-choruses, which was a fantastic idea, and Mitch found the haunting wind chimes and added them to the beginning and the end! It all came together really seamlessly. This is the only song on the EP that wasn’t fully produced by Foster – Mitch, Greg, and I sent the track to him once we were done and he added the finishing touches and effects!
You grew up in Florence, Italy and ended up moving to Tennessee to pursue your music career! What made you decide to move to Nashville? How has it benefitted your life as an artist?
My parents moved to the U.S. when I was younger, so my musical education took place entirely in America. A few years ago, it was time to think about college, and when I was accepted into the commercial programs at both Belmont and Berklee I had to decide where to move! Nashville won because of its vibrant music scene and the people I knew I would meet there (and the weather…I’m very bad at handling the cold). It’s the best decision I ever made – it’s become home to me, and the genuine love and interest people have in helping each other succeed here is the reason why so many great things have happened for my career.
You perform at various well-known venues, and have also performed at Schermerhorn Symphony Center and Bridgestone Arena singing back-up for Josh Groban! How have these experienced shaped yourself as an artist?
They’ve definitely helped me become a better performer. Smaller acoustic gigs have less complicated setups, which make for wonderful intimate shows where you learn to really connect with your audience. But when I’m at the Schermerhorn or at Bridgestone everything is carefully coordinated and executed perfectly. It’s fun and rewarding to be a part of something so much bigger than yourself, and it keeps you striving for bigger goals while maintaining a sense of humility that is absolutely necessary for success.
You grew up writing poetry, which has likely helped you develop your skills as a songwriter! Can you elaborate on how your poetic background benefits you as an artist?
Yes! So, Poetry Out Loud is a competition that actually focuses on the recitation of existing poems and not the writing of new ones (although they do have a separate competition for that)! I am really not very good at writing poetry – it seems the words only come out when I combine them with music! I never expected to be good at reciting poetry, because it feels very unnatural for me to speak in rhyme and rhythm as opposed to singing. I baffled a lot of my English teachers in high school by marking up my poetry the same way I write in musical scores — crescendos, staccatos, fermatas, etc. Studying the structure of different styles of poetry helped me wrap my head around different rhythms, words, and cadences. Having to speak on stage without the protective shield of music definitely made me feel like I’d been stripped down to my core, and it helped me gain an enormous amount of confidence in my voice.
What can we expect to see from you throughout 2020?
I have so much planned! The music video for Forget What They See is releasing on March 20th, and I have live acoustic sessions of a couple of songs on the EP ready to release in the coming months. There’s also another music video in the works…and of course I will probably end the year back in the studio. I’m very excited!
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