HONEST AND PLAYFUL, ESSENCE MARTINS’ NEW EP IT ALL COMES TO END EXPLORES THE MESSY REALITIES OF GROWING UP AND FINDING YOUR FEET

From navigating heartbreak to learning to trust her own path, Essence Martins’ new EP explores the messy realities of growing up and finding your feet.

There’s a particular kind of London maths that never quite adds up. You leave the house, tap into the Underground, pick up a coffee and perhaps something for lunch, and somehow you’re £50 down before the day has even begun. Life moves quickly, money disappears even faster, and somewhere between trying to keep up and figuring it all out, we forget to actually live.

For London-born singer-songwriter Essence Martins, that tension sits at the heart of her new seven-track EP, It All Comes To End, out today. Exploring love, heartbreak, identity and the pressure to meet expectations, the project captures the contradictions of growing up and learning to take ownership of your own story.

“I think for me, ‘It All Comes To End’ just made sense as a title because it's almost a lesson that I'm trying to learn myself — it all comes to an end, so let’s live!” Essence explains. “I know these things in my head, but to actually apply the ideas that I'm talking about is another thing.”

It's a sentiment that feels particularly relevant in a world where we're constantly encouraged to have our lives figured out. Between building careers, maintaining relationships and presenting a polished version of ourselves online, simply being present can feel like another thing to add to the to-do list.

Drawing on diary entries, personal experiences and relationships, Essence uses the EP to make sense of the world around her. On Can We All Slow Down, she reflects on the pace of modern life and the loss of childhood curiosity, while And So It Goes explores people-pleasing, toxic friendships and the importance of refusing to make yourself smaller for others.

Elsewhere, the project turns towards the vulnerability of love. Please Don't Wake Me captures the excitement and uncertainty of a new crush, while Hold The Trigger and Red Velvet explore the bargaining, heartbreak and strange grief that come with letting someone go. Together, the tracks trace the highs, lows and lessons that come with navigating relationships and figuring out where you stand.

The pressure to keep up appearances gets its own moment on A Confession (I'm Broke). Pairing Essence's soft, beautiful vocals with a catchy, upbeat beat, the single turns the financial realities of building a music career into something playful but painfully relatable.

Inspired by a day when her card declined while buying lunch, followed by another financial hiccup on the way to a writing session, the track captures the gap between looking like you're making it and actually feeling financially secure. Earlier that same morning, Essence had received clothes for an upcoming shoot.

It's a reminder that the image of success doesn't always match the reality, particularly for emerging artists trying to build a career while making ends meet. But across It All Comes To End, money is just one part of a bigger picture about expectations, self-worth and learning to trust your own path.

Raised in a music-loving household in Northwest London, Essence's route into music wasn't exactly conventional. A talented tennis player, she earned a college scholarship in North Carolina after years of intensive training before returning to London to pursue songwriting.

Since releasing her debut project in 2023, she has continued to build momentum, earning support from artists including SZA, Troye Sivan, Rachel Chinouriri, Mahalia and Demi Lovato. Having recently wrapped a UK tour supporting Nectar Woode, she's continuing to establish herself as an exciting emerging voice.

At its heart, It All Comes To End documents a young woman becoming more determined to take control of her own story. Its title reflects a lesson Essence is still working towards: knowing that everything comes to an end is one thing; actually allowing that knowledge to change how you live is another.

Perhaps making it isn't always about reaching some glossy, far-off version of success. Perhaps it's about being present for the life you're building along the way. And if that includes admitting you're broke, navigating heartbreak and learning to let go of what no longer serves you? We'll take that kind of honesty over another perfectly curated success story any day.