Some artists have an uncanny ability to tackle any style with conviction and authenticity, and that’s certainly the case with Luxembourg-born rocker Jimmy Martin. Equally at ease with AOR, hard rock, and the more pop based variety, he’s been colouring the world with his unique vocals for forty years, a milestone marked with the career spanning retrospective Past To Present. Despite the years and genres that separate these twenty tracks, this compilation hangs together as a cohesive whole, thanks in no small part to Jimmy’s versatile voice, finding rockers and ravers nestling next to bluesy ballads quite effortlessly. The result is an album that not only celebrates Jimmy Martin’s illustrious past, but signposts a bright future.

While Jimmy is no retro artist, his songwriting harks back to the 80’s and 90’s, to an age when composers weren’t afraid to hit you with a sublime melody and then reel you in with a catchy hook. That’s very much the aesthetic into which Past To Present taps, and no more so than with opening track ‘Mystery Girl’. Full of peaks and troughs, it’s a song that ululates as Jimmy brings all his experience to bear, holding the chorus back until the optimum moment to ensure it connects with maximum force. It becomes immediately apparent that Jimmy has been raised on bands such as Toto, Boston, and Survivor, and his lyricism has storytelling quality, each song becomes a mini novella, a vignette played out over four minutes and inhabited by three-dimensional characters who seem to live and breathe. When the words and music combine the result is a set of songs that become friendly earworms, just one listen and they’ll bury themselves deep inside your cranium, and once inside they won’t be leaving anytime.

It’s the plasticity of Jimmy’s voice that allows these songs to smoothly segue between the Europop of ‘Donne Moi Une Chance’ to the hard rock of ‘Driving Through The Pourin’ Rain’ without missing a beat (the former was entered in Eurovision, 1993, whilst the latter was co-composed by Desmond Child and Robbie Seidman). It’s a constant flux which means the listener’s attention never falters despite the lengthy running time (77-minutes), this is the type of album that can easily be consumed in one sitting and would make the perfect soundtrack to a long road trip. Songs such as ‘When Your Smile Fades Away’ tug at the heartstrings and are tailor made to accompany the biggest life changing moments, whilst the life-affirming nature of ‘Live Your Dream’ is guaranteed to get the blood pumping and will help you power through any obstacle thrown in your path.

In addition to key tracks from Jimmy’s career, Past To Present features rarities and new versions of older songs, along with some surprise collaborations, makes this the perfect collection for established fans and the perfect introduction for those new to Jimmy’s charms. It’s time to raise a glass to the past and the present.

• Past To Present is released via Sonic Revolution on 3rd July 2026.

Track List:

1. Mystery Girl
2. Love Never Dies
3. Keep On Dreaming
4. I Can’t Fight Love
5. Hearts In Trouble
6. Donne Moi Une Chance (Eurovision, 1993)
7. Driving Through The Pourin’ Rain
8. When Your Smile Fades Away
9. Flames
10. Love Somebody (featuring Rick Springfield) (Single Edit)
11. Love Don’t Live Here Anymore
12. I Wish You Here Tonight (featuring Robin Beck)
13. Break Free
14. Born To Run
15. Superhero (Single Edit)
16. My Sharona (featuring Tony Corleone) (Single Edit)
17. Live Your Dream
18. Waiting For You (2026 Edit)
19. A Woman Like You
20. Supernova (featuring Maria Kissimov)