shy martin

Electro-pop artist Shy Martin first gained attention as a songwriter -- she wrote the Chainsmokers' "All We Know" and Mike Perry's "The Ocean" -- before launching a career as a performing artist with singles of her own. Slick production and an abundance of laid-back hooks made Martin's songs stand out, and output like the 2020 EP Sad Songs and a plethora of singles all did multi-millions in streaming numbers. All of this led up to the release of her full-length debut, 2023's Late Night Thoughts. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Shy Martin -- who was born Sara Hjellström -- had her first hit when she wrote "Perfect Touch" for Josh Phillips in 2015. Her big breakthrough was Mike Perry's "The Ocean," which became a Swedish smash in 2016. Its success helped kick-start Martin's recording career, which she began in earnest in 2017 with the release of "A Little Longer," quickly followed by "Good Together." In addition to a Grand Prize win at the 2017 Denniz Pop Awards, she was featured on Timeflies' hit "Raincoat," followed by several more solo singles in 2018, including the hits "Forget to Forget" and "Lose You Too." These singles were collected in the form of the six-song EP Overthinking in December 2018, tacking on bonus track "Spaceship" to pad out the previously released material. Martin returned in 2019 with new songs "Out of My Hands," "Same Old," and "Make Us Never Happen," and collaborated that year on multiple tracks with Boy in Space. The next year, she released her second EP, Sad Songs, and in 2021 continued issuing singles like "Remember You Were the One" and "Feelings." In February 2023, Martin issued the title-track single to her full-length debut, Late Night Thoughts. Released that May, the album found the artist balancing her pop hooks with an even more emotionally candid lyrical aesthetic. Also featured on the record was the single "Wish I Didn't Know You." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine