Stromata is Charlotte Martin's follow up to On Your Shore and her second full-length release, on her own label.

The title is derived from "The connective tissue framework of an organ, gland, or other structure, as distinguished from the tissues performing the special function of the organ or part".

"When I finished the actual song, I found the word stromata first of all. I'd been researching intelligent science, space and time travel, the eleven dimensions of God and all this crazy stuff. I'm a very spiritual person and upon my readings I came across the word stromata and I really loved what it represented and what it stood for. It means it's the framework of a cell. There's many definitions. Someone told me that it's a spiritual or religious term. I was looking at it as a scientific term but I used basically a metaphoric explanation as to why everything connects and disconnects and why basically in the last year my life has fallen apart and got put back together. And the words in the song seemed to encapsulate and sum up everything that I was feeling and what I thought was happening in the world. There were just more than terrible things happening that I don't understand."

The subject matter of many of the songs can be considered darker than previous releases, as the themes include overdosing (on "Pills": "It's about someone who's taken so many pills that they off themselves at the end of the song."), an eating disorder and the acceptance of the body ("Drip") and trying to cut out an unhealthy relationship ("Cut The Cord").

In the run up to the album's release, two EPs were released. Each featured the title track and two bonus tracks. These bonus tracks were "Dust," "Empty Wells," "Crimson Sky" and "Apology." All written by Charlotte Martin.

Musicians

References

Category:2004 albums

Category:Charlotte Martin albums

Artist/Band Information

Charlotte Ann Martin is an American singer-songwriter, who performs predominantly on the piano. She has written several studio albums, two of which have received mainstream commercial releases, 2004's On Your Shore and 2006's Stromata. In 2009 she released an instrumental album titled "Piano Trees" before releasing her new studio album "Dancing On Needles" on February 1, 2011. http

Biography

Martin grew up in Charleston, Illinois. She won the Miss Illinois Teen USA 1994 title on June 26, 1994 and went on to represent in the Miss Teen USA pageant broadcast live from Biloxi, Mississippi on August 16.http Martin graduated from Eastern Illinois University (EIU) in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in vocal performance,httphttp majoring in opera.http In 1999, Charlotte moved to Los Angeles. On September 30, 2005, she married musician/producer Ken Andrews. Their first child, Ronen Joseph Andrews, was born on May 4, 2008; their second, Stella Jean Andrews was born on March 9, 2011.

Following the birth of Ronen, Martin suffered with the nerve disorder, intercostal neuralgia that left her incapacitated for the better part of a year, causing lengthy delays to the writing and recording process of her latest album "Dancing on Needles". http

Martin's father, Joseph Martin, is a music professor at EIU.http Her mother, Becky Martin, is an administrator of a program for developmentally disabled adults.

Career

Pre On Your Shore

Prior to the release of Martin's major-label debut On Your Shore, she had written two full-length albums and two EPs. Her first foray into song writing came in the form of Mystery, Magic & Seeds: an album written as a result of a friend's death. Another album One Girl Army remained unreleased, though an EP was released independently containing a few songs from the album and many of the songs are still performed live. The masters for this record are now owned by her former label, RCA Records.

In 2002, Test-Drive Songs, a limited edition EP containing eight tracks, was released independently. The hard copy is out of print but it is still available for download at digital outlets, including Martin's official site.

Before the release of On Your Shore, an EP titled In Parentheses was released on RCA Records. It contained four tracks, one of which ("Your Armor") was also included with additional strings on On Your Shore. Released August 5, 2003. A video for the single, "Your Armor", was released later in the year.

On Your Shore

On August 10, 2004, On Your Shore, Charlotte Martin's first full-length album on a major label, RCA, was released. A video for the single, "Every Time It Rains", was also released.

To help promote the album, Martin toured on the "Chicks With Attitude" tour with Liz Phair, The Cardigans, and Katy Rose in the summer of 2004.

Darkest Hour and Veins

Whilst touring, two EPs were released in preparation for Martin's second album Stromata, showcasing Charlotte's darker and more experimental sound. The first EP, Darkest Hour was available exclusively on her summer tour 2005 and included 6 tracks (including a cover of Depeche Mode's "Judas" and two remixes). The second EP, Veins was pre-released on her 2005 fall tour and then released online in the November of that year.

On May 1, 2006 a DVD of live recordings, titled Something Like A DVD, was released via Musictoday.

Martin co-wrote and contributed vocals to "Glass Breaker", a song by The Crystal Method, released on the soundtrack for the Chris Evans / Jessica Biel movie London.

Stromata

On September 12, 2006, Martin's second full length album on a major label, Stromata, was released worldwide on her husbands' (Ken Andrews) own label Dinosaur Fight Records. Two digital singles were released on iTunes and other outlets in Summer 2006, containing four b-sides from the album. A third digital single was released early in 2007, also available on iTunes. A video for the single "Stromata" was released online and is available for purchase on online outlets. Two bonus tracks were also made exclusively available to iTunes, "Habit" and a remix of the title track. The album showcased a darker sound, with keyboards and other electronic instruments being predominant in the mix (as opposed to the more acoustic piano-based feel of previous records).

On May 1 2007, Something Like A DVD was re-released as a DVD/CD dual package, including exclusive b-sides to Stromata and backstage footage surrounding the making of On Your Shore. The DVD is described as being the bridging piece between On Your Shore and Stromata by Martin's publicity releases.

Martin co-wrote and contributed vocals to the song "Sweet Things" on DJ Tiësto's 2007 album Elements of Life. She co-wrote and contributed vocals and piano to the song "Is This How Love's Supposed to Feel" on Ben Lee's 2007 album Ripe. She co-wrote and contributed vocals to the song "Feed the Monster" for BT's forthcoming album.

Orphans

On September 2, 2008, Martin confirmed the release of a new studio EP, Orphans. A video blog was posted several days later on September 8 revealing more details on the project, which contains b-sides and other material left off On Your Shore and Stromata (hence the EP name Orphans). Most of the tracks are re-recorded or remastered, such as the Stromata b-side "Habit" and two tracks from her EP Test Drive Songs ("Many Rivers" and "Raven"). "Galaxies" and "Is This Called Desire" are two previously unheard tracks featured on the EP, along with old live fan favorite "The Stalker Song" (aka: "I'm Normal, Please Date Me") appearing for the first time in studio form.

In a first for Martin, a contest was held for her fans to design the cover art for the EP. Orphans was released on 11 November 2008 and is available on American iTunes.

In 2009, she released the instrumental album Piano Trees, a collection of improvised piano songs.

Dancing On Needles

On February 1, 2011, Martin released her fourth album, Dancing On Needles. http Produced by Ken Andrews (who had previously worked with Pete Yorn and Beck), the rapturous album traces Martin's heartbreaking struggle with intercostal neuralgia, a nerve disorder that left her incapacitated for much of the past year. http “It was the most difficult period of my life,” says Martin. “The pain was excruciating. I saw countless doctors, was misdiagnosed countless times and prescribed countless medications. Nothing seemed to help. Forget about not being able to work; getting out of bed was a major undertaking. Worst of all, I couldn’t nurse, or even lift, my baby. As a new mother, that was devastating.” http

The album was released on Martin's Test-Drive records and was preceeded by the single "Volcano". Martin's official website announced the video for the single, available exclusively on YouTube on the same day the album was released digitally. http

Discography

A complete list of Martin's discography is .

Albums

* Mystery, Magic & Seeds (1998)

* One Girl Army (2001)

* On Your Shore (2004)

* Stromata (2006)

* Reproductions (2007)

* Piano Trees (2009)

* Dancing On Needles (2011)

Singles

! Year

! Song

References