John Martin

The Swedish singer and songwriter became widely familiar through recordings with Swedish House Mafia, including “Save the World” and “Don’t You Worry Child”. His working relationship with Michel Zitron forms an important part of the writing behind this period. The vocal melody gives those productions a story to follow as well as a refrain to remember.

The performance has to do a particular job in this setting. A line begins relatively close, then opens into a much larger musical space. Martin’s tone keeps enough texture inside the expansion to preserve a sense of effort, so the chorus feels sung by somebody rather than generated by the scale of the backing.

The solo single “Anywhere for You” appeared in 2014, again involving Zitron. It places Martin’s own name at the centre of the recording while retaining a direct connection to the electronic-pop language that had introduced his voice to a broad audience.

The original and remix versions make the relationship between song and production particularly clear. The melody already contains its emotional direction; a different rhythm can change how that feeling moves without replacing it. Martin’s strongest performances give a large dance track an individual speaker, allowing the public chorus to keep a trace of the quieter thought from which it began.