Martyrs Turn Grief Into Art on New Single ‘Grey Wolf Grey’

The Welsh DIY duo return with a deeply personal new single, exploring unresolved grief, fractured family relationships and the freedom of doing things on their own terms.

Welsh DIY duo Martyrs return on 28 October with ‘Grey Wolf Grey’, a one-off single that sees vocalist Michael J Hall explore the complexities of grief following the death of his father, set against some of the duo’s most inventive instrumentation to date.

Following their acclaimed Last Summer EP and a collaboration with The Anchoress, the track marks a shift away from the band’s run of eight self-produced, self-released EPs. Drawing on the melodic sensibilities of New Order, Talk Talk, The National and The Blue Nile, Martyrs continue to blend retro-tinged sounds with a distinctly forward-looking approach.

Written around the idea of sorting through a deceased relative’s belongings, ‘Grey Wolf Grey’ gradually unfolds into a reflection on inherited behaviours, unresolved family tensions and the conversations left unfinished when someone dies. For Hall, the writing process became a way to confront his own relationship with his father, whom he says he never truly got to know.

Yet Martyrs aren’t interested in following a conventional path. Working entirely independently, the pair handle everything from songwriting and production to promotion and artwork, prioritising creative freedom over industry expectations.

With a spoken-word album featuring orchestral and ambient elements — described as a Welsh working-class folk-horror story — next on their agenda, ‘Grey Wolf Grey’ offers another glimpse into a band committed to following their ideas wherever they lead.

We caught up with Michael J Hall to discuss turning personal loss into music, the importance of creative differences and why independence means making art on their own terms.

1. ‘Grey Wolf Grey’ explores Michael’s grieving process following the death of his father. How did you approach turning such a personal experience into a song, and did writing it change the way you processed that loss?

The lyrics will very often start with Jon's music. A part might trigger a thought or a memory, I'll start writing around that, and after a while it starts to become clear what the song is about. It's very rare that I'll have a specific idea of what the song will mean or even the subject matter until I'm a fair way along in the writing process.

On 'Grey Wolf, Grey' the first lyrics I got were "separating memories / pretending some will stay and some will go" which led me to picturing someone sorting through the possessions of a deceased relative - that becomes more specific later in the song with "packing up a lifetime into boxes I can't carry on my own."

From there a narrative grew, about a son and his father - more broadly about how we can carry the negative traits of our parents (the narrator eventually becomes the one "always looking for a way out" after observing the same behaviour in his father), and about how rare it is to find resolution in a challenging familial relationship before one party is gone. So many conversations go unfinished.

It took me quite a while to realise I was writing about my relationship with my own father. He died without me ever really, truly knowing him, and without us reaching any kind of common ground on what our relationship was. I suppose I've been using music as a way to tackle that particular type of grief for a few years now, in different guises. I don't think I would set out to write about a subject like that, but once it becomes clear that's what's happening I just try to get out of the way and let it take shape. It's easier to do that when I'm working with fictionalised situations. The narrator isn't me per se, they just share some of my experiences.

What I learn in writing about grief and loss is that there's not an end to it, you just find different ways of navigating through it, and making music about it is one of those ways for me.

2. Your music draws on artists such as New Order, Talk Talk, The National and The Blue Nile, while still finding room for unexpected twists. How do you balance those influences with your desire to create something that feels distinctly Martyrs?

There's a great clash of styles and influences between myself and Jon. We share some important common ground - the music we grew up with together for instance - but we're coming at this from largely different perspectives. We might agree on the genre we're experimenting with, or with the sound we're working towards, but it's our differences that make the songs unique. If it was a case of me writing something in the style of Paul Buchanan (not that anyone is really capable of doing that) and Jon just wrote some Blue Nile music to accompany it, what would be the point? It's not like it's going to be as good as them, and we already have them at home. But if I come at something with, say, the mindset of writing a folk melody and Jon brings a techno tune to the table, then we've got something interesting to work with.

3. After eight self-produced, self-released EPs, ‘Grey Wolf Grey’ arrives as a one-off single. What made this the right song to release at this point, and does stepping away from the EP format give you a different kind of creative freedom?

The EP run has been incredibly demanding, both artistically and practically. As a DIY band we do literally everything ourselves from the songwriting to the promo and I think our endurance had run low. We were taking a break from the EP releases - we still have two left to go in our proposed run of 10 - to focus on the next album proper. Then our opportunity to collaborate with The Anchoress on a reimagining of the title track from her recent album 'As We Once Were' came up and that was irresistible. Jon sent me the bassline for 'Grey Wolf, Grey' and that felt irresistible too. There's certainly a sense of freedom to just focusing on one track - it feels almost casual in comparison.

4. You’ve built a reputation for doing things on your own terms, from self-releasing your music to making a no-budget DIY video. What have you learned about staying independent, and are there any compromises you’re determined never to make?

Everything we do is no-budget or close to it, really. We don't use a studio or outside producers, we don't have a label or a PR company or anything like that. So our losses match our gains - it's a zero sum game ultimately. What you learn about being a truly independent artist is that you have to be focused on the process, on enjoying what you do, and making art to please yourselves. That goes for everything from writing to making videos to designing shirts. You aren't playing in the same league as bands with financial backing - in fact you're barely playing the same sport. We aren't interested in being a part of the industry unless there is something someone can do for us that we can't do for ourselves. We haven't found that yet.

We don't have to compromise in terms of the genres we explore, the kinds of music we want to make and that's the key thing for us - to never put ourselves in a position where we're serving someone else's ideas. It's not even about having these old school punk/DIY ideals necessarily, though I admire them a lot, it's more about having the freedom to do exactly what we want to do. There's obviously a massive question mark over the ethics of the music industry and its exploitation of both musicians and fans, though, and while it's partly unavoidable, that's not really something we want to be involved in.

5. Your collaboration with The Anchoress and the success of the Last Summer EP have brought Martyrs wider attention. Looking ahead, what would you like the band to explore next, and what can listeners expect from this next chapter?

A couple of years ago we set out our only "commercial ambition" for the band, which was to have some more people hear the songs. Things like the BBC Radio plays and The Anchoress collaboration certainly serve that ambition. Working with The Anchoress was an absolute joy and of course we appreciate radio support. It doesn't make any difference to what we do, though. We've had an album on the backburner for a long time - it's a spoken word narrative with orchestral and ambient elements, a sort of Welsh working-class folk horror story - and that's where our focus is after this single. It's not the kind of project that will bring us a wider audience I don't imagine, but it's what we're inspired to do so that's what we're doing. I hope the people who have started listening to us recently will have an interest in following us to that kind of work but it's ok if they don't, too. I just want to be happy with the work we do.