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
Birth name	Sara Hjellström
Also known as	shy martin
Born	(1993-11-05) 5 November 1993 (age 30) Lerdala, Sweden
Origin	Lerdala, Sweden
Genres	Pop[1]
Occupation(s)	singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2016–present
Labels	shy recordings

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 over 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] 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+).^{[citation needed]}

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”.^[6] Several more singles followed, receiving positive coverage from Billboard^[7] 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 3 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.^[8][9][10]

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

shy released her new single 'wish I didn't know you' in October 2022, receiving positive reception from press with Clash Magazine declaring shy ‘a genius...her voice has never been so beautiful’.^[11] In February 2023 shy martin released the title track from her debut album 'late night thoughts', being described as ' a departure from her previous work and can be seen as her boldest, most openly emotional, brave, and beautiful release to date'.^[12] martin is set to release her debut album in May 2023.^[13]

Discography

Studio Albums

Album	Details
late night thoughts	Scheduled release: 19 May 2023 Label: The Orchard Formats: Vinyl, CD, cassette, digital download, streaming	No. Title Length 1. "wish I didn't know you" 2:53 2. "late night thoughts" 2:25 3. "glued to the floor" 2:18 4. "grow old together" 2:13 5. "wait it out" 2:33 6. "don't let me forget you love me" 3:06 7. "got me thinking" 3:43 Total length: 19:15

Extended plays

Album	Details	Track listing
Overthinking	Released: 7 December 2018 Label: BLNK Records Formats: Digital download	No. Title Writer(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" Hjellström Hayley Aitken Litens Anton Elias Näslin Alexander Lias 2:35 4. "Lose You Too" Hjellström Aitken Anton Näslin Alexander 3:06 5. "Bad in Common" Hjellström Aitken Anton Näslin Alexander 2:59 6. "Spaceship" (bonus track) Hjellström Aitken Anton Näslin Alexander 2:55 Total length: 18:25
Sad Songs[14]	Released: 7 August 2020 Label: BLNK Formats: Digital download	"Make Us Never Happen" "Slow" "Can I Call You Back?" "Nobody Likes Moving On" "Are You Happy?"

Singles

As lead artist

Single	Year	Peak chart positions	Album
		SWE [15]
"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"[18]		—
"Make Us Never Happen"		—[upper-alpha 3]	Sad Songs
"Slow"[20]	2020	—
"Still the Same" (featuring Boy In Space)[21]		—	Non-album single
"Can I Call You Back?"[22]		—	Sad Songs
"Nobody Likes Moving On"[23]		—
"Break with Me"[24]	2021	—	Non-album single
"Remember You Were the One"[25]		—
"Feelings"[26]		—
"No Regrets"[27] (with Nea)		—
"wish I didn't know you"	2022	—	late night thoughts
"late night thoughts"	2023	—

Notes

1. "Bad in Common" did not enter the Sverigetopplistan, but peaked at number one on the Swedish Heatseeker chart.^[16]
2. "Forget to Forget" did not enter the Sverigetopplistan, but peaked at number 18 on the Swedish Heatseeker chart.^[17]
3. "Make Us Never Happen" did not enter the Swedish Singellista Chart, but peaked at number 12 on the Swedish Heatseeker Chart.^[19]

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
2023	"Heroine"	Ive

Awards and nominations

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

External links

• Shy Martin at AllMusic
• Shy Martin discography at Discogs

References

1. TotalNtertainment, TotalNtertainment (8 February 2023). "SHY MARTIN ANNOUNCES DEBUT ALBUM". TotalNtertainment. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
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. SIDEWALK TALK (14 February 2019), SHY MARTIN Interview- how she wrote for Chainsmokers, Alan Walker, Bebe Rexha, Kygo, artist project, retrieved 22 May 2019
6. "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.
7. Kress, Bryan (5 June 2018). "SHY Martin Can't Help But 'Forget To Forget' in Latest Video: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
8. Öfwerström, Mats (22 January 2019). "Förhandlingen mellan Mike Perry och Shy Martin gick framåt". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Murray, Robin (17 October 2022). "Track Of The Day 17/10 – Shy Martin". Clash. Clash Magazine. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
12. Eat This Music, Steven (9 February 2023). "Delicious New Music for 9 February 2023". Eat This Music. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
13. Murray, Robin (8 February 2023). "shy martin Outlines Debut Album 'late night thoughts'". Clash. Clash Magazine. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
14. "Sad Songs - EP by SHY Martin on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
15. "Discography Shy Martin". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2016.
16. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 13, 2018" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
17. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 25, 2018" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
18. "Same Old by SHY Martin". Spotify. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
19. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 46". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
20. "Slow by SHY Martin". Spotify. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
21. "Still the Same (feat. Boy In Space) by SHY Martin, Boy In Space". Spotify. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
22. "can I call you back? - Single by Shy Martin on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
23. "Nobody Likes Moving On - Single by Shy Martin". Apple Music. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
24. "Break With Me - Single by SHY Martin on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
25. "Remember You Were the One - Single by SHY Martin on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
26. "Feelings - Single by SHY Martin on Apple Music". Apple Music. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
27. "No Regrets - Single by NEA & SHY Martin". Apple Music. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
28. "International Songwriting Competition | The #1 Song Contest for Songwriters". songwritingcompetition.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.