Shy Martin

Sara Hjellström (born 5 November 1993), known professionally as Shy Martin (stylized as SHY Martin) is a Swedish singer and songwriter. As a songwriter her compositions have been streamed over 3 billion times on Spotify alone, while her songs as lead vocalist have been streamed 1.5 billion times on the same platform.

SHY Martin
Background information
Birth nameSara Hjellström
Also known asSHY Martin
Born (1993-11-05) 5 November 1993
Lerdala, Sweden
OriginLerdala, Sweden
GenresElectropop[1]
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
InstrumentsVocals, guitar, piano
Years active2016–present
LabelsBLNK Music
Associated acts

In August 2020 SHY released her Sad Songs EP, preceded by the singles "Slow" and "Are you happy?". The release was well received by blogs including The Line Of Best Fit,[2] Paste[3] and Idolator,[4] and has 120 million+ combined streams on Spotify.

Career

Raised in the small town of Lerdala, Sweden, SHY Martin first began writing songs and poetry in her youth as a means of self-expression. After winning a music contest at her school at age 17, SHY signed with EMI for a period though ultimately she decided to go independent. She decided to start studying at the songwriting school Musikmakarna in Örnsköldsvik, in the north of Sweden. Shortly after she moved to Stockholm and signed to the independent label BLNK Music.[5][6] As of November 2020 she is no longer signed with BLNK.

SHY Martin first established herself as a songwriter, a path that launched in dynamic fashion via her co-write and featured vocal on Mike Perry's "The Ocean (ft. SHY Martin)." Recording the vocals in one-take in her home wardrobe, SHY wrote the track with longtime Swedish songwriting partner, SHY Nodi, with whom she has written several other songs for artists including The Chainsmokers, NOTD, Jess Glynne, Astrid S, Timeflies, NEIKED and Kream. The track won Spotify Sweden's ‘Most Streamed Song of the Year’ with a groundbreaking 550 million+ streams (now 719 million+).[7]

SHY’s career as an artist in her own right took off in 2017 with the release of ‘Good Together’, which was praised by The Line Of Best Fit as “part dancehall, part R&B, and completely addictive”.[8] Several more singles followed, receiving positive coverage from Billboard[9] and others, culminating in the Overthinking EP in 2018. In April 2020, Martin released the single "can I call you back?". James Keith of Complex UK called the song "a dream-like flurry of breathy vocals, soul-touching songwriting and twinkling electronics." This was followed by the Sad Songs EP, her most successful collection to date.

SHY's songwriting catalog has gone on to generate over 2.5 billion streams on Spotify alone including credits on "First Time" by Kygo ft. Ellie Goulding, "(Not) The One" by Bebe Rexha, "All We Know" by The Chainsmokers, "I Wanna Know" by NOTD (ft. Bea Miller), as well as songs for Jess Glynne, Astrid S, and ALMA, among others.

In addition to her artistry, SHY is also a member of numerous music industry initiatives, most notably joining Spotify CEO/Founder Daniel Ek and songwriter/producer Max Martin's coveted 'Equalizer Project', a group aiming to combat gender inequality in the music industry. SHY also participated in Bebe Rexha’s 2018 'Women In Harmony' Dinner in Los Angeles, a gathering to empower female artists in music including Charli XCX, Kim Petras, and Avril Lavigne. She also performed alongside Matoma at the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Concert.[10][11][12]

In 2018 SHY was awarded the Stikkan Anderson award for Songwriting.

Discography

Extended plays
Album Details Track listing
Overthinking
  • Released: 7 December 2018
  • Label: BLNK Records
  • Formats: Digital download
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Just a Little Longer"
  • Hjellström
  • Max Wolfgang
  • Freddy Alexander
  • Dehiro
  • Alexander
  • Dehiro
3:26
2."Good Together"
  • Hjellström
  • Lara Andersson
  • Marcus Andersson
  • Anton Göransson
  • Alexander
  • Göransson
3:25
3."Forget to Forget"
  • Alexander
  • Lias
2:35
4."Lose You Too"
  • Hjellström
  • Aitken
  • Anton
  • Näslin
Alexander3:06
5."Bad in Common"
  • Hjellström
  • Aitken
  • Anton
  • Näslin
Alexander2:59
6."Spaceship" (bonus track)
  • Hjellström
  • Aitken
  • Anton
  • Näslin
Alexander2:55
Total length:18:25
Sad Songs[13]
  • Released: 7 August 2020
  • Label: BLNK
  • Formats: Digital download
  1. "Make Us Never Happen"
  2. "Slow"
  3. "Can I Call You Back?"
  4. "Nobody Likes Moving On"
  5. "Are You Happy?"

As lead artist
Single Year Peak chart positions Album
SWE
[14]
"A Little Longer"
(with Kiddo and Sid Rosco)		 2017 — Non-album single
"Good Together" 79 Overthinking
"Bad in Common" 2018 —[upper-alpha 1]
"Forget to Forget" —[upper-alpha 2]
"Lose You Too" —
"Just a Little Longer" —
"Out of My Hands" 2019 — Non-album single
"Same Old"[17] —
"Make Us Never Happen" —[upper-alpha 3] Sad Songs
"Slow"[19] 2020 —
"Still the Same"
(featuring Boy In Space)[20]		 — Non-album single
"Can I Call You Back?"[21] — Sad Songs
"Nobody Likes Moving On"[22] —
"Break with Me"[23] 2021 — TBA
"Remember You Were the One"[24] —
"Feelings"[25] —
"No Regrets"[26]
(with Nea)		 —

Notes

  1. "Bad in Common" did not enter the Sverigetopplistan, but peaked at number one on the Swedish Heatseeker chart.[15]
  2. "Forget to Forget" did not enter the Sverigetopplistan, but peaked at number 18 on the Swedish Heatseeker chart.[16]
  3. "Make Us Never Happen" did not enter the Swedish Singellista Chart, but peaked at number 12 on the Swedish Heatseeker Chart.[18]

Guest appearances
Title Year Other artist(s) Album
"Painting with Dreams (Nothing Like Them)" 2016 Tritonal Painting with Dreams
"Perfect Touch" 2015 Josh Philips N/A

Writing credits
Year Title artist
2016 The Ocean Mike Perry
2016 Summer Love FO&O
2016 All we know The Chainsmokers
2016 You on repeat Jeremy Folderol
2016 Taped up heart KREAM feat. Clara Mae
2017 Bloodstream Astrid S
2017 First Time Kygo feat. Ellie Goulding
2017 Raincoat Timeflies feat. SHY Martin
2017 A little longer KIDDO feat. SHY Martin & Sid Rosco
2017 (Not) The one Bebe Rexha
2017 Sucker for you Matt Terry
2018 Know this love KREAM feat. Litens
2018 Us Julie Bergan
2018 Old Skool Love (feat. Nirob Islam) NEIKED
2018 I wanna know NOTD feat. Bea Miller
2018 Good Vibes Alma feat. Tove Styrke
2018 Used To Sandro Cavazza & Lou Elliotte
2018 Different World Alan Walker
2018 Bad in common SHY Martin
2019 Trust Issues Astrid S
2019 Out of My Hands SHY Martin
2019 Same Old SHY Martin
2020 Ever Really Know Georgia Ku
2020 First Time Daya
2020 Long Run (feat. Nina Nesbitt) Deacon

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Received for Result
2016 Ted Gärdestad Awards[27] Scholarship Södra Station Winner
2016 Denniz Pop Award[28] Rookie Artist / Band Södra Station Nominee
2017 P3 Gold[29] Song of the year The Ocean Nominee
2017 P3 Gold[29] Pop of the year Södra Station Nominee
2017 Swedish Grammy Awards[30] Song of the Year The Ocean Nominee
2017 Denniz Pop Award[28] Grand Prize (International success)    SHY Martin & SHY Nodi Winner
2017 Swedish Publishing Awards[31] Breakthrough of the Year SHY Martin & SHY Nodi Winner
2017 Swedish Publishing Awards[31] International Success of the Year SHY Martin & SHY Nodi Winner
2017 Swedish Publishing Awards[31] Most Streamed Song The Ocean Winner
2018 Swedish Publishing Awards[31] Song of the Year I Wanna Know Nominee
2019 International Songwriting Competition[32] Pop top 40 Forget to Forget Winner

References
  1. Claesson, Leif (2 January 2019). "Shy Martin släpper nytt efter världshiten". Skövde Nyheter. Archived from the original on 27 February 2019. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  2. "Swedish songwriting powerhouse SHY Martin opens up about her anxiety on "can I call you back?"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  3. "SHY Martin Has an Entire EP of 'Sad Songs'". PAPER. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  4. "SHY Martin's 'Sad Songs' EP Lives Up To Its Title". idolator. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  5. "Shy Martin", Wikipedia, 22 May 2019, retrieved 22 May 2019
  6. SIDEWALK TALK (14 February 2019), SHY MARTIN Interview- how she wrote for Chainsmokers, Alan Walker, Bebe Rexha, Kygo, artist project, retrieved 22 May 2019
  7. "The Ocean (Mike Perry song)", Wikipedia, 18 March 2019, retrieved 22 May 2019
  8. "Astrid S and Bebe Rexhe writer SHY Martin steps into the spotlight with debut single "Good Together"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  9. Kress, Bryan (5 June 2018). "SHY Martin Can't Help But 'Forget To Forget' in Latest Video: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
  10. "Förhandlingen mellan Mike Perry och Shy Martin gick framåt" (in Swedish). Sveriges Radio. 22 January 2019. Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  11. Hannah, Andrew (10 November 2017). "Astrid S and Bebe Rexhe writer SHY Martin steps into the spotlight". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  12. Kress, Bryan (5 June 2018). "SHY Martin Can't Help But 'Forget To Forget' in Latest Video". Billboard. Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  13. "Sad Songs - EP by SHY Martin on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  14. "Discography Shy Martin". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
  15. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 13, 2018" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  16. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 25, 2018" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  17. "Same Old by SHY Martin". Spotify. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  18. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 46". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  19. "Slow by SHY Martin". Spotify. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  20. "Still the Same (feat. Boy In Space) by SHY Martin, Boy In Space". Spotify. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  21. "can I call you back? - Single by Shy Martin on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  22. "Nobody Likes Moving On - Single by Shy Martin". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  23. "Break With Me - Single by SHY Martin on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  24. "Remember You Were the One - Single by SHY Martin on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  25. "Feelings - Single by SHY Martin on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  26. "No Regrets - Single by NEA & SHY Martin". Apple Music. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  27. "Ted Gärdestadstipendiet", Wikipedia (in Swedish), 29 April 2019, retrieved 22 May 2019
  28. "Denniz Pop Awards", Wikipedia (in Swedish), 13 July 2018, retrieved 22 May 2019
  29. "P3 Guld", Wikipedia (in Swedish), 15 April 2019, retrieved 22 May 2019
  30. "Grammis", Wikipedia (in Swedish), 18 January 2019, retrieved 22 May 2019
  31. "Musikförläggarnas pris", Wikipedia (in Swedish), 19 April 2019, retrieved 22 May 2019
  32. "International Songwriting Competition | The #1 Song Contest for Songwriters". songwritingcompetition.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
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