Tag: Martin Flett

When The Introverts Come Out marks the point where the Outer Hebrides meet Monument Valley. Martin Flett was born and still lives on the former but his heart lies somewhere out west. But there’s more. Martin has had a long and varied career and he has only recently turned to music – there not being a lot to do on Lewis during lockdown – and this is his debut album. The thing is, he’s 68 although he doesn’t sound it – his voice at the top of his range is remarkably clear.

The opening track, ‘I Don’t Want To Be The One To Tell You’, reverses the popular country theme of the unfaithful wife. This time it’s the husband who is “playin’ away” and as the story unfolds it becomes clear that the singer is her former lover – a clever twist. The title track, ‘When The Introverts Come Out’, while musically similar, although rockier, expounds a different theory – a performer who is a real firebrand in the spotlight is often a quiet and private person off stage. Tell me you don’t know someone like that. Both of these tracks lean on Louisa Maclean’s fiddle.

‘If Wishes Were Horses’ would have been a single if Martin bothered with that sort of thing. It is a gentle country song and we all know the rest of the saying. The song rests on some hand percussion which could be the responsibility of either Keith Morrison or Colin Macleod. ‘Falling In Slow Motion’ might also have been a single and is a co-write with Cree Mackenzie. The perfect slow waltz for a Hebridean ceilidh. The thoughtful ‘It’s When You’re Not Looking’, an encapsulation of sound parental advice, continues the gentle mood.

Don’t go thinking that Martin is a one-trick pony, though. He now introduces a very different style with a percussive modern take on the Selkie legend called ‘Shapeshifter’. Keith Morrison’s bodhran is the only accompaniment except for some strange sounds which might also be Keith or Tony Dolley’s aerophone. It’s a direction that Martin might want to explore more deeply in future. Then it’s back to his comfort zone with ‘Better Days’, the paean to home that is ‘Places Like These’ and the rolling ‘Just Like You’.

Martin turns his attention to the Irish diaspora with ‘American Wake’, which was a ceremony held for emigrants crossing the Atlantic and finally ‘If Only I Had Known’ is the perfect goodbye song written for an elderly singer from Harris. It’s essentially Martin’s demo track with Louisa’s fiddle added later. A criticism of When The Introverts Come Out might be that most of the songs come from the same source. That said, it’s a very enjoyable album and easy to listen to and as a debut it stands up very well indeed.

Dai Jeffries

Artist’s website: www.martinflettmusic.co.uk

‘If Only I Had Known’ – live: