Martin Luke Brown’s live rendition of ‘hello !’, captured at London’s Fish Factory Studios, shouldn’t work as well as it does. Live sessions usually ask you to choose: polish or intimacy, never both. Brown delivers both.
Part of the deluxe edition of his acclaimed album man oh man !, this performance has the precision of a studio recording without losing the warmth of people actually playing together in a room. It’s intimate because of who’s there, not because anyone’s pretending to fumble.
The track itself deals with perpetual transformation, and Brown’s vocal approach mirrors that theme in an unexpected way. His delivery is smooth, almost casual.
There’s no cracking voice, no theatrical strain to signal emotional weight. But listen to what he’s actually saying: leaving home, “two favourite people and a cat” left behind, the assertion that he’s “not a full stop.”
The vulnerability isn’t in how he sings. It’s in what he’s willing to admit while sounding that composed.
That’s the clever trick of ‘hello !’. The vocals slide in effortlessly, carrying lyrics that tell a much more complicated story.
Lines like “I sat backwards on a train and I couldn’t stop thinking bout you” ground the song’s themes in a specific, disorienting image. You’re moving forward while looking back. That’s the entire song in one detail.
When Brown hits “hello!” in the hook, there’s a sharpness that cuts through the track’s otherwise easy-going groove.
It’s not aggressive, but it has bite. It sounds like someone actually announcing themselves rather than politely introducing.
The Fish Factory performance benefits from an expanded ensemble. Brown brought together what he calls “all the lads,” finding “joy and safety” in that collaborative space.
It’s a gesture that mirrors man oh man!’s wider themes about masculinity and connection, but more importantly, it works musically. The additional players add texture without crowding the song’s core.
Fresh from US headline shows and a sold-out night at London’s EartH Theatre, Brown sounds confident in this more exposed format.
The setup honours the original’s lo-fi aesthetic, recorded with producer Matt Zara using analogue gear.
But “lo-fi” here doesn’t mean rough. It means human-scaled, leaving room for the small imperfections that prove people are actually playing.
The deluxe edition’s live tracks, now out via AMK on vinyl and digital, offer a new perspective on songs already steeped in vulnerability.
In this setting, ‘hello !’ feels even more direct. Brown’s singing about becoming someone new while the band around him proves that transformation doesn’t require drama.
Sometimes it’s just friends playing together, letting change happen naturally, and having the skill to make it sound this good.