Marianne Joyce – 14% (self release)
Not the first to take creative inspiration from a 1977 study which found 14% of a colony of nesting seagulls were female-female nesting pairs but the first to look at what the findings meant to the queer community indie folk singer Marianne Joyce shares single 14%
Artist: Marianne Joyce
Track: 14%
Label: Self release
Released: 30 July 2026
Find it: Bandcamp
In 1977 research findings were released on Western Gulls (Larus occidentalis) in Southern California which found that 14% of the colony were female-female pairings. The reaction to the study was polarised between outrage and calls to withdraw funding, and letters of support from the queer community for this example disproving queerness as unnatural.
On latest single 14% singer-songwriter Marianne Joyce lyrically references that figure, and the study it came from, as she sings around the edges, the tentative feeling out toward a relationship, the beauty and fear in possibilities. Two guitar lines wind around each other, gulls or girls circling and lifted by the potential of each other, and the trust in what is around them.
The distinction between the human and avian sound blurs as the track progresses – a mandolin joining the guitars as vocal harmonies and gull calls build in layers that make the study and the statistic more than a reference and weave it solidly into the fabric of this song. It becomes more than a touchpoint: it is solace and science in one.
Of the track Marianne Joyce said, “Coming from the South West, although they’re not western gulls, gulls are part of the fabric of life here. They’re on most streets and in most postcards, and I loved this image of them flying above us every day and no one realising that their existence alone makes a powerful point. I kept thinking about what it must have felt like to read that news story in 1977 and have found validation from nature, even when you can’t find it from wider society.
“What started as a slightly ridiculous idea gradually became a genuine celebration of finding belonging where you least expect it. And I’m very happy to be the first lesbian to be singing about lesbian seagulls – they’re the unsung heroes of LGBT+ history, in my opinion.”
There’s a little of Gracie Abrams here in the folk-pop melody, but the for an emerging artist Joyce is already on the way to shaping her own sound and style. With 14% she’s found an interesting and inspiring reference for this beautiful love song, and we can only look forward to more with an EP set for release in September.
14% by Marianne Joyce is out digitally now. It is taken from EP Every Cloud which will be released in September.
Live dates:
- 26 September – The Barbican Theatre, Plymouth
Image: Jake Visser
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Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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