Ste the Beautiful Martyr 1st Attempt
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Ste the Beautiful Martyr 1st Attempt
| type = EP
| artist = Bladee
| cover = Ste the Beautiful Martyr cover.png
| alt = A black-and-white drawing of a figure holding a sword. The drawing is outlined by text
| caption =
| released = 30 April 2025
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre =
| length = 7:47
| label = Trash Island
| producer = * 30nickk
- Eurohead
- Gabriel Schuman
- Lusi
- Mechatok
- Woesum
| prev_title = Cold Visions
| prev_year = 2024
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
Ste the Beautiful Martyr 1st Attempt is the fifth extended play (EP) by the Swedish rapper Bladee. It was surprise-released through his Trash Island label on 30 April 2025. The EP was released alongside a music video for the track "One in a Million". The three-track EP was produced by a variety of Bladee's frequent collaborators. The EP's lyrics reference Saint George and the dragon he is said to have slain. The EP was named one of the best releases of its release week by Elaina Bernstein of Hypebeast.
Background and release
In April 2024, Bladee released his seventh solo studio album, Cold Visions, to critical acclaim.{{Cite web |last=Crone |first=David |title=Bladee Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bladee-mn0003845273 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229163717/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bladee-mn0003845273/biography |archive-date=29 December 2022 |access-date=5 May 2025 |publisher=AllMusic}} In October of that year, he appeared on Charli XCX's remix album Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat.{{Cite web |last=Moreland |first=Quinn |date=18 November 2024 |title='I was really not OK': Bladee on PTSD, Charli xcx and being struck by lightning |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/nov/18/i-was-really-not-ok-bladee-on-ptsd-charli-xcx-and-being-struck-by-lightning |access-date=May 5, 2025 |website=The Guardian}} In 2025, he collaborated with James Ferraro and Microsoft to create an artificial intelligence video game and worked with Oklou on the song "Take Me by the Hand".{{Cite web |last=Press-Reynolds |first=Kieran |date=April 30, 2025 |title=Bladee: 'One in a Million' Track Review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/bladee-one-in-a-million/ |access-date=May 5, 2025 |website=Pitchfork}}{{Cite web |last=Green |first=Walden |date=April 30, 2025 |title=Bladee Surprise-Releases New Ste the Beautiful Martyr 1st Attempt EP: Listen |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/bladee-surprise-releases-new-ste-the-beautiful-martyr-1st-attempt-ep-listen/ |access-date=May 5, 2025 |website=Pitchfork |archive-date=1 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250501144328/https://pitchfork.com/news/bladee-surprise-releases-new-ste-the-beautiful-martyr-1st-attempt-ep-listen/ |url-status=live }} On 30 April 2025, he surprise released the extended play (EP) Ste the Beautiful Martyr 1st Attempt through his own Trash Island label. Alongside the EP's release, the track "One in a Million" received a Hendrik Schneider-directed music video; the video is set in a graveyard and sees Bladee in slow-motion, waving a sword wrapped in a flag.{{Cite web |last=Jones |first=Abby |date=April 30, 2025 |title=Stream Bladee's Surprise New Ste The Beautiful Martyr 1st Attempt EP |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2306249/stream-bladees-surprise-new-ste-the-beautiful-martyr-1st-attempt-ep/music/ |access-date=May 5, 2025 |website=Stereogum}}{{Cite web |last=Darville |first=Jordan |date=April 30, 2025 |title=Listen to Bladee's new EP Ste the Beautiful Martyr 1st Attempt |url=https://www.thefader.com/2025/04/30/bladee-new-ep-ste-the-beautiful-martyr-1st-attempt |access-date=May 5, 2025 |website=The Fader}} "One in a Million" leaked months before the EP's release and became highly requested by fans until its official release. Bladee is scheduled to embark on the Martyr World Tour, which is named after the EP, in October 2025.{{Cite web |last=LaPierre |first=Megan |date=May 6, 2025 |title=Bladee Books 2025 World Tour |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/bladee-books-2025-world-tour |access-date=May 6, 2025 |website=Exclaim!}}
Production and composition
Ste the Beautiful Martyr 1st Attempt was produced by frequent collaborations of Bladee, such as Lusi, Woesum, Eurohead, 30nickk, Mechatok, and the Cold Visions co-executive producer Gabriel Schuman. The EP contains three tracks. Its opening track, "One in a Million", sees Bladee relate himself to Saint George and the dragon he is said to have slain in its lyrics. Pitchfork's Kieran Press-Reynolds viewed the reference as a reflection of Bladee's own struggle to overcome the "evil things in [his] mind". The song features a sorrowful melody with a light, shimmering quality, which presents themes of optimism. Press-Reynolds called the song's music "buoyant" and described the song's beat as "skydiving". The EP's final track, "St George the Martyr", was described by Press-Reynolds as a "more intoxicating" song than "One in a Million". He wrote that the track "showers you in fairy gurgles and tingly shivers".
Critical reception
Elaina Bernstein of Hypebeast named Ste the Beautiful Martyr 1st Attempt one of the best releases of its release week.{{Cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Elaina |date=May 3, 2025 |title=Best New Tracks: Yung Lean, Mariah The Scientist, Yeat, and More |url=https://hypebeast.com/2025/5/best-new-tracks-yung-lean-yeat-mariah-the-scientist |access-date=May 5, 2025 |publisher=Hypebeast |archive-date=4 May 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250504035405/https://hypebeast.com/2025/5/best-new-tracks-yung-lean-yeat-mariah-the-scientist |url-status=live }} In a review of "One in a Million" for Pitchfork, Press-Reynolds described the track as "textbook Bladee".
Track listing
Credits adapted from Tidal.{{Cite web |last=Bladee |author-link=Bladee |date=April 30, 2025 |title=Ste the Beautiful Martyr 1st Attempt |url=https://listen.tidal.com/album/433275641/credits |access-date=May 5, 2025 |publisher=Tidal |archive-date=3 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250603185657/https://listen.tidal.com/album/433275641/credits |url-status=live }}{{Track listing
| extra_column = Producer(s)
| total_length = 7:47
| all_lyrics =
| title1 = One in a Million
| length1 = 2:56
| writer1 = {{hlist|Benjamin Reichwald|Luis Cano|Arthur Nyqvist}}
| extra1 = {{hlist|Lusi|Woesum}}
| title2 = Ask Jade
| length2 = 2:43
| writer2 = {{hlist|Reichwald|Cano|Simon Hessman|Gabriel Schuman}}
| extra2 = {{hlist|Eurohead|Lusi|Schuman}}
| title3 = St George the Martyr
| length3 = 2:08
| writer3 = {{hlist|Reichwald|Cano|Hessman|Schuman|Timur Tokdemir}}
| extra3 = {{hlist|30nickk|Eurohead|Lusi|Mechatok|Schuman}}
}}