Olive Grinter & Martha O'Brien - IVW 2025

Growing up as one of six children, Martha O’Brien is no stranger to choosing her words wisely in order to be heard at the table. Having honed her composition in prose, poetry and academia, Martha now turns her hand to songwriting. Her passion for honest, bare-bones folk is realised with assistance from her brothers: a thoroughly family affair inherited and developing from their Welsh-Irish roots. Martha’s debut EP ‘Caution, Horses!’ packs a myriad of images, ideas and emotions into four songs. Themes of love, loss and introspection are playfully painted through scenes of house parties, delayed trains and rats dancing to George Michael. Inspired by the likes of Adrianne Lenker and Tiny Ruins, Martha’s ability to capture the personal and painful in honest simplicity marks her as the latest exciting talent to emerge in the indie-folk world.

Olive’s songwriting is inspired by a love of Jazz and Folk music. Entrancing layers of warm vocal harmonies weave through her compositions. Accompanying herself with acoustic guitar and live vocal looping she builds her poetic landscape. Her debut album ‘Hugs’ is a tapestry of songs that invites the listener into the embrace ofOlive’s unique sonic world. From start to finish, each song is stripped of all trivialities. It is songwriting at its most raw and vital, where every moment of sadness, wistfulness and honesty is earned. ForOlive, it is a reflection on how we see ourselves: within the chaos of life, the chaos of connecting with those around us, and an attempt to spread kindness and support into the moments we need them most. It is a warm embrace, open arms, a hug.Olive’s songwriting draws comparisons to artists such as Laura Marling, Snowpoet, Adrienne Lenker and John Martyn.