Out now: Grey Wolf, Grey
MARTYRS: BIG MUSIC IN SMALL ROOMS
"What would Yacht Rock sound like if we made it at home instead of in a multi-million dollar studio?"
That was the question that reunited childhood friends Jon and Michael, decades after they first bonded over WCW Wrestling and the iconic sounds of R.E.M. in their hometown of Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. The answer was Martyrs, a project that has since spiralled into a "seemingly endless series of algorithm-baiting single releases", spanning everything from lo-fi electronica and disco to metallic fury and acoustic folk.
THE "POST-YACHT" MANIFESTO
Now residing on the Kent coast, Martyrs are proudly, stubbornly DIY. Every note, word, and video frame is created in their respective kitchens and living rooms with "lashings of misplaced confidence and absolute sincerity",.
They call this sound "Post-Yacht"—a genre that pirouettes somewhere between Bruce Springsteen and New Order. However, the band is just as likely to draw inspiration from Dario Argento horror films, cold brew coffee, and the entrance themes of 1980s professional wrestlers,.
Their creative partnership is a study in dysfunctionally functional collaboration. Vocalist Michael admits he is "not smart" and often agrees to Jon's production ideas "without a moment of thought". The process usually involves Michael sending a demo he has shaped with loving care, only for Jon ("the talented one") to "promptly strip away all my precious work and deliver something far more ethereal and beautiful. The prick."
A CHRONOLOGY OF CHAOS
The Martyrs discography is a roadmap of their refusal to sit still:
• The Giallo Phase (2022): Their debut album, Un Diavolo In Casa, was a bleak, lo-fi electronica tribute to a lost 1982 Italian horror film that may or may not actually exist,,.
• The Glossy Phase (2024): They followed the darkness with Luminism, a "bright and shiny" exploration of mental health and resilience,. It featured Sunset Thinking (a hymn to carers) and Death of the Territories, a sombre power-ballad about the corporate destruction of regional wrestling promotions,.
• The "Algorithm-Fucker" Phase (2025): The band embarked on a series of genre-hopping EPs and singles designed to confuse streaming platforms. This run included the industrial aggression of Night Shift (based on the true story of Jon being accidentally kept on a payroll to guard an empty warehouse for six months), the acoustic autumnal drift of Halloween Dream, and the flamenco-infused indie of Pin Blue Sometime.
PROUDLY "ALGORITHM-RESISTANT"
Despite their single The View From A Memorial Bench picking up global radio play—a surprise to the band, given they thought it sounded like "a flight of stairs falling down a flight of stairs"—Martyrs have no interest in chasing trends.
They describe themselves as "genre-agnostic and algorithm-resistant". As Michael explains, their isolation from the music industry is entirely voluntary: "Because we’re completely self-sufficient... we’re on an island, and it’s an island I’m very happy to call home. The mangos are delicious."
THE MISSION
While they joke about their "amateur hour idiocy", the heart of Martyrs is a desire to connect. Whether raising money for the Trussell Trust and Cancer Research UK through their releases,, or writing songs about the "last, the lost, the least, the left out, the overlooked", they remain committed to making art on their own terms.
They are currently threatening to follow their run of singles with a "permanent shift into spoken word-infused rock opera."
Martyrs are Jon and Michael. They make very big music in very small rooms.