Only Child issues a synth-pop warning for those messing around on ‘Defeater’. The queer Boston songwriter and multi-instrumentalist unveils striking new camp-pop single on Friday, November 18 2022

Only Child’s glittery debut EP ‘Srs One’ set for release in 2023
Deep down, underneath the glitz and the glam, Only Child is a sensitive soul. And as any good boy, girl, or person knows, it’s the sensitive souls that are susceptible to the rampant fuckery of others both in the streets and under the sheets. So as the queer camp-pop project of Boston-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Christopher James Martin readies its new single, a rousing synth-pop cruiser called “Defeater,” Only Child has a stern warning for others: You may break their heart, but you’ll never break them.
And we’d expect nothing less. “Defeater” is for streaming release on Friday, November 18 via Jungle Up Records, the independent label operated by Boston synth queen and producer Casey Desmond, and drops the day Only Child performs live later that night at the Queer Artist Showcase at UMass-Amherst. The single follows this summer’s assertive bubble-gum jam “Don’t Call Me BB,” and it continues a poignant and decisive expression from Only Child, which unfolds like chapters in a colorful CYOA novel and spins like a fiery pinwheel of LGBTQ+ excellence across their upcoming debut EP, Srs One, set for 2023 release.
“‘Defeater’ is kind of a continuation of the themes covered in ‘Don’t Call Me BB’, about being infatuated with someone you shouldn’t be,” says Martin, “with the added twist being, ‘you tell yourself you know better, but you’re still falling for it.’ In some ways, I feel like ‘Defeater’ distills what I was trying to do with this EP and this whole project, both sonically and lyrically, in one song.”
Martin pauses, thinks on it, and drops the gauntlet: “I wanted to express the idea that you can be heartbroken about something or someone without being broken.”
“Defeater,” which combines the pop smarts of ‘80s stalwarts like Pet Shop Boys and Erasure with the more modern queer-positive electronic-pop artists like Tegan and Sara, Robyn, Christine and the Queens, and Shamir, is bubbly and sassy by nature, but it’s also an important personal release for Martin as his positions himself as an important voice in Boston music, a journey that began a few years back with indie rock band All Eyes On Me.
“I feel like it’s important that this song uses male pronouns!” Martin proclaims. “That was always something I wanted to have in a song. That’s part of what makes the song so fun.”
Of course, it might only be described as “fun” for those not on the receiving end of Only Child’s acerbic wit and lyrical wordplay, where “peter” is a euphemism for male genitalia and Martin delivers a brash takedown of a boy who did him wrong. Case in point: “He’ll make you into a mess / Fucking stab you in the chest / Cause he’s a deceiver / Don’t be a believer / He thinks with his peter / Oh what a creature, oh no.”
Someone get some lotion for that burn!
“This feels like the thesis statement of the EP,” Martin admits. “The lyrics are a little bleak but the song itself feels sunny. It’s tongue-in-cheek and funny, but at the same time relatable. It also never actually occurred to me to release this one as a single! I thought it was a fun song to play and sing, but I thought it was kind of similar to the songs on the EP. When I started playing shows, however, it seemed to be one that stood out more and more, especially when I delivered some of the ‘punchline’ lyrics.”
Before Desmond got a hold of it and turned it into the synth-pop bop it is today, smoothing out some rough demo edges and shaping it up into its current glossy form, “Defeater” endured a long creative journey that began, of all places, on Martin’s guitar.
“It’s kind of funny because I think this song is the only one I wrote on guitar but there ended up being very minimal guitar on the track overall,” he concludes. “For about a year or so, every time I picked up a guitar I would play ‘Defeater’. There’s kind of an interesting structure to the song that is dictated by the narrative, which makes the song feel very natural to me. It’s sort of like a form and content thing; the chords in the verses go in one direction, like they’re trying to get somewhere. Then when the chorus hits it’s like you go back to the same part, which is what’s happening lyrically as well. You’ve been defeated.”
A loss for all is a win for Only Child. Good thing they’re not keeping score.

Media Contact: Please direct all press inquiries to Only Child at onlychildbostonmusic@gmail.com or Michael Marotta at michael@publisist.co.

Label: JUNGLE UP RECORDS