Martine Grech - Open Heart Zoo (2002)

Promoted in the summer of 2002 by its title track featuring on a Lexus car ad, Open Heart Zoo received an adulatory press welcome, one reviewer going so far as to claim "albums like this come along once in a decade and artists like Martin Grech once in a lifetime". And, for once, the stratospheric praise is not far off the mark. At age 12, Aylesbury-born Grech, blown away by Radiohead's The Bends and lent confidence by his singer mother, began to write, sing and play. At 16, he entered a London studio and, 3 years later, emerged with this, one of the most startling debuts in ages. The opening three numbers immediately announce that something special is up. "Here It Comes", the title track and the first single, "Dali", evolve from monolithic sci-fi rock, through weird and beautiful orchestrations to a punishing metal. Then there's the quiet lullaby of "Tonight", the softly hypnotic "Penicillin" and the near-ambient "Catch Up", all of it riddled with well-chosen samples and overlaid with Grech's extraordinary voice, like Muse's Matt Bellamy's but genuinely soulful and far less blustering. Incredibly, for one so young, this is truly inventive rock, following a line from Soundgarden, through Radiohead to 2002, with the production atmospherics of Bjork and Robin Guthrie tossed in for extra effect. There's surely a chance Martin Grech has peaked before he's 20. But what a peak.

1. Here It Comes

2. Open Heart Zoo

3. Dali

4. Tonight

5. Push

6. Only One Listening

7. Notorious

8. Penicillin

9. Catch Up

10. Twin

11. Death Of A Loved One

12. ILL (Demo Version) (Bonus Track) DOWNLOAD HERE