Discography: Martha Phillips

More than a decade after launching The Elephant Trees, Martha Phillips remains one of the most beguiling artists in the North of England.  Here, Makeit-loud.com takes a look back at her career to date.      

In 2015 a group of school friends formed a band called The Elephant Trees.  The Leeds based trio consisted of Tom Palmer on drums, Sam Hugh-Jones on guitar and Martha Phillips on vocals/guitars/keys.  They were one of the most exciting bands to emerge from the independent music scene, and quickly established an enthusiastic following.  The Elephant Trees brand of acoustic led Indie pop/rock was championed by radio stations across the UK, and won them a slot at the Isle of Wight festival. 

As the songwriter and front woman Martha Phillips was often the centre of attention.  Instantly recognisable with her long ‘Testa Rossa’ hair (and resembling Sir Frederic Leighton’s Flaming June) she had, and still has, the capacity to hold an audience in the palm of her hand. 

In November 2017 the band released their first single Open Up, followed by Missing, a melancholy lament played out on acoustic guitar.  2018 began with Hooked, a rifftastic belter of a rock song.  The band relocated to Manchester and Phillips began studying at the prestigious BIMM Music Institute.  One more single UNCOMFORTABLE came out later that year, then a further four new songs were released in 2019.  These tracks, and several remixes, made it onto The Elephant Trees debut EP MONACHOPSIS, which was released on 15^th November.

MONACHOPSIS was an astute choice of title.  Many of Phillips’ lyrics dealt with feelings of anxiety and being maladapted to her surroundings.  Still in her early twenties, Martha Phillips was crafting beautiful melodies matched with lyrics offering an honest assessment of what it feels like to be out of sync with the world. 

2020 brought three more singles, including What Did You Do, a burning assessment of the world and our treatment of it.  The gospel choral effect, with its rhythmic harmony and heartfelt expression, cemented Phillips’ reputation as a genre-fluid artist. 

In September 2020 Martha Phillips launched Incantation Ltd, an artistic creation company which subsequently gave rise to Incantation Music.  Described by Phillips as a “Manchester based music company, run by and for the LGBTQ+ community, female identifying and non-binary artists.”

The Elephant Trees released Day 42 in April 2021.  The song mapped out the state of Phillip’s mental health during the pandemic lockdown.  The track left the listener in no doubt that Phillips was in a constant battle to maintain her mental health, and it was a fight she didn’t always win.  As Phillips told me in February 2022: “Playing live literally keeps me alive, and that was taken away from us in lockdown.”

Ones and Zer0s was released in February 2022, just ahead of the band’s UK tour.  The single was accompanied by an innovative and cinematically creative video, which showcased the bands artistic development and growing confidence. 

It was clear by the summer of 2022 that The Elephant Trees were feeling constrained by the musical persona they had created.  Phillip’s song writing had become angrier and dystopian, whilst her production skills had developed to the point where she could make a studio mixing desk bend to her will.  All this led to the transformation of the band from The Elephant Trees to TRUNC.  Same band members; different attitude.  The confidence (and bond) that Tom, Sam and Martha developed in The Elephant Trees enabled them to effortlessly transition to an angst ridden, in your face style band – full of wrath at the discrimination and social injustices they’d experienced first-hand.              

Hey, Idk was TRUNC’s first single.  The band toured extensively during 2022 and 2023, supporting acts such as Calva Louise, Delilah Bon and Belako.  TRUNC thrilled audiences with their energetic performances, and received positive reviews in the music press and on social media.        

TRUNC’s next single, Zombies, was released just ahead of their debut EP Terra Incognita; which arrived in November 2022.  Terra Incognita is a collection of seven perfectly crafted tracks, ranging from the funky beats on Meaning of Life, to the power raps on Ones and Zer0s and the achingly beautiful melody of Sorry.  Then there’s the final track: Don’t Throw It All Away.  This is perhaps the most powerful song TRUNC produced.  Don’t Throw It All Away opens with some ominous sounding piano and haunting vocals prophesying environmental ruin.  Comparisons with abandoned relationships run throughout the track as it builds to an epic finale.  Tom Palmer hammers on the drums like he’s seen the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and Phillips’ vocals are a chainsaw.             

By the spring of 2023 Martha Phillips had built a recording studio in the Pollard Yard area of Manchester.  The old shipping container quickly acquired the nickname ‘tin-can-station’ and became the base for Incantation Music. 

2023 brought three more singles: Coming for Blood, BORED and Figure In The Fog.

Outside of TRUNC, Martha Phillip’s continued to stretch her musical creativity and in Oct 2023 released Incantation Presents.  For this Martha dropped the M and presented herself under the name artha.  Incantation Presents is a collection of nine songs with a distinct up beat, dance pop feel.  There are melodic loops and backbeats, offering a kind of nostalgic nod to the great eras of disco and electronica.

Opening track, She Is The Boss is credited as a Collab with TRUNC.  This song is catchy as hell, and is the third most streamed track of Phillips’ career.  What A Woman is equally catchy and could have been written by the Bee Gees.  What A Woman showcases Phillips’ powerful vocals; capable of climbing every major scale uncracked.  The whole album is a tour de force of song writing skills and studio production.  It’s also noticeably less dystopian, with hints (perhaps) that Phillips is making peace with her life.  That said, there’s still room for psychological tension in tracks such as This Road and Fruity.  Never Felt Like This is a festival crowd pleaser if ever there was one; with a chorus that’s a riotous display of joy.     

2025 brought a further Collab for artha; partnering with composer Luke Jackson to release From the Ashes.  This classic power piece is another launch pad for Phillips’ impressive vocals, and should be the theme tune to the next James Bond film.            

So what does the future hold for Martha Phillips?  Still in her twenties, and with a talent for writing/performing/producing well beyond her years, it would be easy to say the world is her oyster.  But mental health issues are a constant challenge, meaning career progression will never be linear.  Perhaps the best clue to Phillips’ future can be found in a line from her song This Road: “I’m a work in progress”. 

Such self-awareness and candid acknowledgement bodes well.  I look forward to writing about the next decade, just as much as the last.