SHY Martin Premieres "Break With Me," A Moving Tribute To The Last Year

SHY Martin says she was living in something of a bubble before the pandemic upended her life.

"Since I started my career as a songwriter four years ago, I’ve been super busy, always traveling, putting work before everything else," the Swedish pop singer tells NYLON. "When the pandemic started last year and all my plans for the year got cancelled, everything automatically paused. Since I’m so used to always being on my way to somewhere and having my life planned months ahead, it took me some time to adjust and slow down."

"Break With Me," Martin's new single, premiering below, was a product of that slowing down. Martin wrote the song on the way back from a trip to the lake with her boyfriend, brother and friend, as she played guitar in the backseat and a chorus was born. The resulting track is a moving song that addresses the changing relationships so many of us have been experiencing as of late.

"It almost felt like I had been living in a bubble for the last couple of years that suddenly burst," Martin says. "Last year really got me to reflect and reevaluate lots of things, which also changed my priorities. I've become closer to my family and my friends, and I’ve started to prioritize my health. I’ve had lots of time to think about what truly makes me happy and what I don’t wanna waste my energy on. Even though it’s been a tough year, it’s also been an important one for me."

The video for the bedroom-pop single, also premiering below, features a collection of videos shot on an old school handycam, featuring Martin and friends in Stockholm during last winter's lockdown. It's also the first single off Martin's new independent label, SHY Recordings. The singer, whose written for artists like Ellie Goulding, Bebe Rexha and the The Chainsmokers, is breaking out on her own, with plenty of new music on the way.

Listen to "Break With Me" below and read on for NYLON's conversation with Martin:

What has the past year taught you about yourself and relationships?

Since I started my career as a songwriter four years ago, I’ve been super busy, always traveling, putting work before everything else. When the pandemic started last year and all my plans for the year got cancelled, everything automatically paused. Since I’m so used to always being on my way to somewhere and having my life planned months ahead, it took me some time to adjust and slow down. It almost felt like I had been living in a bubble for the last couple of years that suddenly burst. Last year really got me to reflect and reevaluate lots of things, which also changed my priorities. I've become closer to my family and my friends and I’ve started to prioritize my health. I’ve had lots of time to think about what truly makes me happy and what I don’t wanna waste my energy on. Even though it’s been a tough year, it’s also been an important one for me.

What can you tell us about your label?

I’ve always been interested in the business side of music and curious about how it would be releasing my music myself. I actually think it has always been something I was going to end up doing eventually. Since I stopped working with my previous label last year, now felt like a good moment to start my own. When everything got paused during the pandemic, I also had a lot of time to plan and think about what the optimal setup would be. Doing this demands a lot of new responsibilities for me, but I’m building up my own amazing little team and it’s all very exciting.

How did the video come about?

When I was growing up, my parents had a video camera with them wherever we went, so handycams always give me a feeling of nostalgia. After watching old videos from my childhood, I decided to buy one myself to capture moments here and there. The video that me and my brother put together for "Break With Me" is a collection of clips from the time we produced the single this last winter in Stockholm. I wanted it to feel intimate, unpolished and spontaneous, just as these old videos from when I was a kid.

What was the inspiration behind "Break With Me?"

"Break With Me" was written in a car ride on the way home from a lake close to the village where I grew up in Sweden. Me, my friend, boyfriend and big brother went on a trip to my parent's house last summer and brought the guitar with us. We were playing around with the guitar in the backseat and ended up writing almost the whole chorus in the car. We finished the song right away when we got home and wrote "Slow" the day after while sitting in the kitchen eating breakfast. It’s a breakup story that dives into all these mixed emotions and the separation anxiety that suddenly arises when you’re realizing that a relationship is coming to its end.