Early material Prior to the release of her major-label debut,
On Your Shore, Martin had composed two full-length albums and two
EPs. Her first foray into songwriting came in the form of
Mystery, Magic & Seeds (1998), an album Martin wrote as a result of a friend's death, which she now considers
juvenilia, but which is available for download from
archive.org. Her second album,
One Girl Army, remained unreleased, though an EP of the same name containing a few selections from the full-length record was published independently in 2000, and Martin still performs some of its content live. The
masters for this album are now owned by Martin's former label,
RCA Records. In 2002, Martin independently released a limited-edition EP containing eight tracks, called
Test-Drive Songs, which is now out of print but still available for download on her official website. In 2003, Martin released another EP, titled
In Parentheses, on RCA. It contained four tracks, one of which ("Your Armor") would later be included (with an added string arrangement) on
On Your Shore.
On Your Shore On August 10, 2004,
On Your Shore, Martin's first full-length album on a major label, RCA, was released. A video for the single "Every Time It Rains" was also issued. To help promote the album, Martin toured on the Chicks with Attitude tour with
Liz Phair,
the Cardigans, and
Katy Rose in 2004.
Darkest Hour and Veins While touring, two EPs were released in preparation for Martin's second album,
Stromata. The first,
Darkest Hour, included a cover of
Depeche Mode's "Judas". The second EP,
Veins, came out in November 2005. On May 1, 2006, a DVD of Martin's live recordings, titled
Something Like a DVD, was published via
Musictoday. Martin co-wrote and contributed vocals to "Glass Breaker", a song by
the Crystal Method, included on the soundtrack to the 2005 romantic drama film
London.
Stromata, Orphans, and Piano Trees On September 12, 2006, Martin issued
Stromata on her husband's label, Dinosaur Fight Records. Martin co-wrote and contributed vocals to the song "Sweet Things" on
Tiësto's 2007 album,
Elements of Life. She also co-wrote and contributed vocals and piano to the song "Is This How Love's Supposed to Feel" on
Ben Lee's 2007 album,
Ripe. She co-wrote and contributed vocals to the song "Feed the Monster" by
BT. The original song was never released, but a remix by
Blue Stahli was. On November 11, 2008, Martin released the EP
Orphans and followed it a year later with the instrumental album
Piano Trees.
Dancing on Needles On February 1, 2011, Martin issued her fourth full-length album,
Dancing on Needles. Produced by her husband, Ken Andrews (who had previously worked with
Pete Yorn and
Beck), the record traces Martin's struggle with intercostal neuralgia, a nerve disorder that had left her incapacitated for much of the previous year. "It was the most difficult period of my life", Martin stated. "The pain was excruciating. I saw countless doctors, was misdiagnosed countless times and prescribed countless medications. Nothing seemed to help. Forget about not being able to work; getting out of bed was a major undertaking. Worst of all, I couldn't nurse, or even lift, my baby. As a new mother, that was devastating". The album was released on Martin's Test-Drive Records and was preceded by the single "Volcano".
Water Breaks Stone, Rapture On February 25, 2014, Martin published
Water Breaks Stone. On March 27, 2017, she announced that she would no longer be touring: "At this point in my life, it's not possible for me to mount any long tours or even short ones. I've chosen to be a mommy and that's my first priority. I still plan to be involved in music though and will do one-offs here and there if the timing's right... [T]his is right for me and my family." She held a farewell tour between March and May and released
Rapture on May 12, 2017.
Clear Blue Sky, Monotonous Night, and Dawn On October 5, 2018, Martin released the second of her instrumental piano albums, titled
Clear Blue Sky. The following year, two more albums in a similar vein were issued:
Monotonous Night on March 8 and
Dawn on December 27. Her latest release is the 2023 EP
Knives & Bouquets. ==Discography==