147. EP Review of Favourite Way of Existing by Marta Per
Originally Published on June 19th, 2025
About the Artist
I’m like a fiend for independent music. Every month, Fifteen Minutes of Fame run campaigns to discover new music and new artists. Every month we publish reviews, premier blind reactions. We host interviews and post on social media to meet new artists and hear new music. Sometimes, we post on Instagram, Threads, or BlueSky and there isn’t a response. Sometimes, there are a plethora of responses, and in the mix, there is a link to a song that is just different.
So is the case with Marta Per. A Londonite who is originally from Lisbon, her bio says she is “figuring life out and using music as therapy in the meantime.” Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to your next favorite artist.
Per’s therapeutic journey began in 2009 with a collaboration with Brazilian-born artist, Anchor the Sun, with their cover of The Only Exception.
It would be 13 years before we would hear the stand alone debut from Per. Yet, it would come in March of 2022, with the release of the single Take a Deep Breath, a pop-alt jam that features bouncy rodes effects, moving percussion, and a lively blend of leading and backing vocals.
Per would follow her debut with the May 2022 release of Nobody's Friend. Like Take a Deep Breath, Nobody’s Friend is risk-taking Pop-alt that doesn’t settle for simplicity in progression or time signature. There are several intended time signature changes in Nobody’s Friend, and they’re done SO WELL. It reminds me of Sail to the Moon by Radiohead, which famously has more than 20 time signature changes in the song. Everything else is different about the two songs, aside from the time signature chaos. Not many can pull this off and it sounds absolutely incredible.
In October of 2022, Per would release the piano-driven ballad Hostage. Now, three songs into her catalog, I am picking up on the fused styles within her music. The alt/pop, alt/rock performance is incorporating many elements of jazz, to the point of where I would label the music a jazz fusion, alt/rock project.
In February of 2023, her first three singles were released together in her debut EP, Fragments & Fingerprints, along with the song, The Run, which features one of the most beautiful piano performances I’ve heard in a pop or rock setting. Her music is so imaginative. Her music sounds free. Free to roam. From one song to the next, there are these incredible experimentations with progressions, time signature changes, and with The Run, she puts on a clinic for bouncing from mode to mode within the performance of the song. I think there were 3 mode changes in the song. It’s very jazz inspired but it doesn’t sound like traditional jazz in any other way. I’ve never heard anybody do this.
The following month, Per released a deluxe version of Fragments & Fingerprints, which included the 4- song EP, as well as an acoustic performance of Take a Deep Breath (Acoustic), a stripped rendition of Nobody’s Friend, a stripped rendition of The Run, and a bonus track, Red. Red opens on the ukulele with Per’s vocals coming in just after. Red is the most traditionally pop-sounding song she’s released to this point. Her use of vocal harmonies is reminiscent of an artist like Feist. Red is a masterpiece.
It would be a year before Per’s follow up to Fragments & Fingerprints. In March of 2024, she released the single Caught by Surprise. Unlike her previous work which seemed to center around work on the piano, the main focal point has shifted to performance on the guitar. Its no surprise that Per is keeping her audience on their toes and it’s equally as unsurprising that the changes are extraordinary.
Following Caught by Surprise, Per released Sweet & Sour in October of 2024. Sweet & Sour is a more traditional rock sound but still incorporates experimentations with transposing from major to minor progressions in the chorus. Sweet & Sour also has an amazing instrumental section that starts at around the 2:15 mark and plays for just over an over a minute before bringing in the final chorus.
In 2025, Per released the song Putting Our Wishes to Sleep in January. In additional to the jazz fusion alt-rock style that has been featured to this point, there sounds to be a funk element to Putting Our Wishes to Sleep. This progression heavy, loose percussion, with a bright and busy bass part have all of the ingredients for a great funk piece.
About the Song
Favourite Way of Existing is the second EP for London recording artist, Marta Per. Releasing on June 19th, this 5- song EP has a run time of around fifteen minutes. It includes the four previous singles that have been released by Per. It features vocal and instrumental performances by Per and Ensemble. Favourite Way of Existing was independently released by Marta Per.
About the Music
The one thing that can be expected as a constant with a Marta Per record is that it will be musically profound, expertly crafted, and it will experiment with the dynamics within the song. Favourite Way of Esisting is no different. It opens with a new song, Shrink, that released on June 5th. Shrink opens with a very bouncy piano progression that has similar energy to the Peanuts Theme Song. This very jazzy pop song has a very moving vocal lead that is as colorful as the percussion that’s being performed by the piano.
As we transition to the chorus, the jazz influence makes room for a hint of R&B before shifting right back into the spectrum of rhythmic performance of the second verse.
As Per takes her listeners into the bridge, we get a time signature and tempo change, a more progressive rock progression and a more prominent performance on the guitar. As the bridge closes out, the drummer shifts to a more swing beat, transitioning the piece before our very ears.
Shrink closes with a final, complex, and impressive performance of the chorus, accompanied by the full force of the ensemble.
Final Thoughts
Regarding Favourite Way of Existing, I have no notes. Regarding Marta Per, I have no notes. This talented musician can do everything we hear in mainstream music today and she can do it better. Her music seems to encompass heavy influences from jazz performance but there’s even more to the music than just that. She challenges mainstream music by unleashing hell on the best of their best. She does this by showcasing element after element of music theory to these perfectly crafted simple formulas. She shows us that a song can exist within a simple 4/4 or 6/8 time signature but it can excel if we resist those traditional formats. She shows us that a song can exist in the typical Ionian or Aeolian modes by playing typical chord progressions but it can excel if we challenge ourselves to create in a Phrygian or Mixolydian progression.
Marta Per is showing music lovers and performers alike that it’s not a question of “how do I do this?” It’s more like, “how do I do this better?” She’s not the first musician to experiment with the boundaries of traditional music. She’s not even the first musician to do it well. In fact, it’s the goal of many artists to create outside of these mainstream “comfort zones.”
Here is where she is different though: most creative, experimental artists who successfully compose experimental music are often labeled weird, different, abstract, etc. It’s a label that follows them unless they strip back and do something more traditional. Per’s performances aren’t what I would classify as weird. It’s a different that sounds like it should belong in popular music. Not just belong but perhaps set the new bar for what it could be. The important thing to remember here is Marta Per isn’t rewriting any books. She’s simply identified that there are more chapters in the story. These chapters are as exciting and as capable as the traditional stories we have all heard since the first Bobby chord progression was played by a fender telecaster in the 1950’s.
Marta Per is different. She is extraordinary. She is radio ready. She demonstrates that there can be a bright, mellifluous future in music if we can learn to leave the island and go exploring.
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