Rising Swedish pop act shy martin (Sara Hjellström) unveils the May 19 release date of her debut album late night thoughts and releases the project’s title track and its accompanying lyric video – Stream / Watch.
At the end of 2022, shy released the first single off of her highly anticipated album, “wish I didn’t know you” along with an accompanying official video. The release was met with praise from Consequence, Clash, Atwood Magazine and BBC 1 and now boasts over 2.5 million global streams to date.
Speaking about the new single, shy explains, “I don’t even know what genre it is, and I don’t know what inspired it. It felt like a song that just happened. It felt different from other things I’ve written and that’s what made it interesting to me.”
This kind of genre-less approach marks the new album as a whole. Recruiting Fanny Hultman and Kerstin Ljungstrom as producers – shy sought to seal herself away from outside expectations. “I felt the need to do some kind of reset,” she says. “It was important for me to create something for myself. Without even knowing you get distracted, you get influenced… and without even noticing it you feel lost.”
late night thoughts is shy’s boldest, most openly emotional, brave and beautiful work to date. An album dealing with topics including mental health, recovery, and the search for happiness, late night thoughts presents shy as she’s always wanted to be heard.
Talking about the process of making the album, shy explains, “There weren’t any rules. If something suited the song and I could deliver emotion, then that was enough. I wanted the album to sound raw, like I had recorded it in my bedroom. When I wrote the songs, it felt like a safe space, like we weren’t even working. And that’s what I wanted the songs to sound like in the end.”
late night thoughts represents an example of pop world-building at its best, creating a fresh realm for fans to enter but it also represents a personal reset, the beginning of a new chapter in shy’s life.
shy says, “When I look back at my old songs, it feels like I’m looking back at the younger version of myself. This feels like where I am at the moment. It’s a new era, creatively. The biggest thing this process has taught me is just enjoy it… enjoy these years, where I get to do what I love.”
late night thoughts tracklist
“wish I didn’t know you”
“late night thoughts”
“glued to the floor”
“grow old together”
“wait it out”
“don’t let me forget you love me”
“got me thinking”
shy has an esteemed career as a songwriter, having previously written tracks for the likes of The Chainsmokers, Ellie Goulding, Jess Glyne and Astrid S that have seen her amass more than 3 billion streams on Spotify alone. shy is a participating member in Max Martin’s Equalizer Project which seeks to further promote and celebrate women in the music industry, while she has also been part of Bebe Rexha’s Women In Harmony events.
shy martin’s brand-new single “late night thoughts” is out now and the album of the same name is released on May 19. Pre-order the album here.
Email: neill@outloudculture.com
