Bea Elmy Martin - Under The Yew (Volume 2) - EP review
Singer/songwriter from London, Bea Elmy Martin, released her latest EP ‘Under The Yew (Volume 2)’ on the 25th of June, 2026 - just over a year after her volume 1 release in May 2025. Inspired by classical soul, her songwriting is deep rooted in feeling. She uses her lyrics and melodies to process the undulating ups and downs of life.
Her first single gained support from BBC tastemakers Jack Saunders and Lauren Laverne and she has since began a meticulous journey to keep the quality of her music meaningful and strong whilst navigating what it takes to make it in the industry.
For someone so early into her career, the standard of the mixing and mastering is phenominal and doesn’t sound at all low budget. It is well produced and well thought out with euphoric melodies and deep hitting lyrics. As a personal opinion, there are some songs where I would prefer more of a storyline but I also know that many people do like songs that feel like a diary entry stream of consciousness. When I think about it like that, it’s really beautiful and intimate that she’d let us in on that.
Here’s my track by track review:
High
The first song on the album, High, has since had a music video release, though it was not a single prior to the albums release. The song and the video has immediately 2016 vibes and I love it. If anyone used to like Marika Hackman, Years and Years or The Japanese house, I think you’ll love this song.
It starts off slow with soft keys and somber vocals stating lyrics like “I’ll treat you better but what do I deserve?” The video shows a compilation of home video style clips of Bea and her partner setting off on a road trip. They pack their bags and enjoy a happy time, kissing and cuddling in the car. These visuals are a direct juxtapose from the tone and lyrics. “I feel tight, a little bit fake to hold when we kiss.” The song is about a woman who knows deep down she’s in love but has destructive habits that protect her from getting hurt by lying and pretending. The music begins to swell, using bass, drums and an unknown twinkly instrument (someone please tell me what that is) to give it this bright, euphoric feeling. Very reminiscent of the music in 2016.
I love the sound of her vocals when she sings ‘I can feel a new beginning high’ because she’s matched them with the instrumental perfectly to create this harmonic majestic sound. Lovely song. I would say listen to it a couple times as well it hits harder the more you listen. As a first song for the EP it’s a great HIGH (see what I did there?)
Born to Fly
Bea’s vocals in this song are soaring an emotional, dripping out of the song. It has a slower ALMOST R&B feel to it whilst sticking to her signature soft and ethereal vocals with a driving baseline that gives the sad song and edgier undertone.
The song is about Bea’s strong will and ambition and how she is finally trusting someone enough to fly WITH them despite her worried of their energy putting them out. “Baby I’m born to fly with you.”
I think possibly the song is reaching out to the person she pushed away in the first song ‘High’ because she regularly says ‘Let’s talk again.’ It’s possible her self destructive tendencies have put her and her partner in a no contact situation and this song is her asking them to come back. She has slightly worked through some of her worries and issues though it appears more of a desperate attempt to accept them because of how much she loves this person. ETC “I’ll be your fire. If you put it out don’t let it burn out” It’s kind of like she’s saying come back I’ll be this for you, I’m scared you’re going to put me out so my way of dealing with this is that I’ll just LET you do it.
Just my interpretation. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments :)
Lost
Lost is Bea’s most poetic in lyrics with drum hits that hint at spoken word rhythm (It’s not spoken word - it stays melodic throughout. I mean that it sounds like a drum beat that one may do when performing spoken word.) The song is also the most traditional with its format - clear distinctions between bridge, verse, prechorus and chorus. Whereas some of the earlier songs flow between.
The chorus “I know you’re bad for my soul and I’ve been feeling so lost when I let go.” then later “I’ve been getting so lost since I found you” is kind of heartbreaking - like she can’t win. So, the story unfolds - Bea is starting to realise that her self destruction may just simply be intuition and she’s stuck in a cycle with this partner where she is with them and pushes away but blames herself. When she goes back to them she realises it’s not right and the cycle continues.
Unscarred
Bea has a Facebook post out documenting her writing of this song. She shares an original voice note clip stating “First day writing it: I had the chorus going round and round in my head. I loved how sad the lyrics were along with the really uplifting timings of it. It felt like relishing in the bad moments but knowing after the dust has settled there will be positive change”
This song is one of my favourites and probably the most powerful. Its emotional vulnerability is so strong you can hear it in every single word from the anxiety and desperation to the soft sadness in the verses and finally the sobbing rise of the bridge as it builds to a crescendo that feels like a feverish cry of pain and sorrow. Wow, Bea the emotional tone of your music is spot on and you really know how to sing with every emotion on your tongue and write with them on your sleeve.
Written On Me
It’s an intimate raw telling of falling in love and becoming intertwined with someone. It seems, to me, to be a more happy and romantic version of ‘Born to fly’
My favourite part of this song is the beautiful instruments, from a sad piano ballad to a growing saxophone and string medley with melodic ad-libs in the background. It’s absolutely stunning and makes the song feel fresh and euphoric. The song is a growing crescendo which ends sooner than you think but it actually goes quite well into the next.
Anouk
With more guitar than the other songs, this one has a different kind of sad feeling. The chorus has multiple singing layers that harmonise and follow the swaying bass below. “I feel alive by your side” Is mainly sung in major but some notes jump into minor - showing the happiness of relationship and the sadness of the situation. It’s about her living in confusion and looking for purpose as she details her experience with her best friend and the ending of their friendship. I love that this one feels so different because it’s not about a partner or her own struggles, it’s about a friendship. So the multiple voices, the different instruments and the more acoustic feeling add to the change in tone. The heartbreak of losing a friend “why didn't it work with you and I?” hits so much harder than breakup heartbreak and Bea knows that and utilises it in her song. To kick it off, she end the song with a voice note either sent from or to her friend.
I’d rate the EP a good 7/10. It’s clearly very well thought out and produced and she’s doing great with what she has available to her. There are a couple of times where I do think she can give more in terms of her vocals - she clearly has a powerful voice but sometimes that gets hidden behind stylings and I think she’d really shine if she allowed that power in some of the more rising and emotional moments. The bridge of ‘Unscarred’ proves she has this capability so I kind of want more.
You can find her linktree HERE where you can stream her music. ENJOY