‘Liquid Love’, the fourth single from Billie Marten’s Flora Fauna, forces us to revisit the album’s cover image: Marten smiling brightly whilst splattered with mud, weeds, and other earthly things.
The single concerns itself with growth, what life is like after you can grow into loving yourself, with ‘liquid love’ – specifically- referring to the life and joy running through her veins. This didn’t spring from nowhere however, instead, she grew it herself, and so she sticks the byproducts of the self-growth on her face to show how far she has come.
When asked if there were any anecdotes or stories about writing the album, she jokingly remarks “are there any anecdotes from two years of living?” with a raised brow. ‘Liquid Love’ encapsulates this, marking a departure from her teenage, hormone-fuelled self, but also definitive statements from her past: her first EP saw her state “I will never be myself”.
Instead, the Yorkshire-born singer-songwriter begins with “Me and my body/ Making me believe/ All this is good for me”.
The introspection of the lyrics is matched by a lo-fi, emotive beat intertwined with a loop of Marten’s swooning backing vocals, creating a serene backdrop of pleasure and contentment.
More mellow than the first singles from the album, ‘Liquid Love’ is a song for the Indian Summer. We know the sun is about to depart suddenly and painfully, but we have ourselves, and the comfort of this moment.
‘Liquid Love’ is a tangible love and the form in which Billie Marten has chosen to fuel herself.
Words by Evie Lake
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Excellent piece!