Marina & The Diamonds!

Another myspace success story, like Lily Allen and Little Boots. She's being introduced to the world at large now, but I've been a fan for close to two years (one of the few times I can claim to actually have been around very near the beginning of something). Placed 2nd in the BBC's Sound of 2010 list, blah blah blah.

Debut album The Family Jewels comes out in a month, but she's released three singles already and a fourth one around the corner (all with accompanying videos).

And no, I'm not a goddamn street-teamer. I've been here for YEARS!

Let this thread THRIVE.

http://i48.tinypic.com/2ez0lg3.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np3QLrHJmRA

"Obsessions"

I like her, but am still sorting out how much. She definitely produces some very catchy songs that have become stuck in my head quite quickly. I'm tired and I've said more about her on other threads, but I hope I'll be back with something more to say on this one.

"Seventeen" is also pretty good, imo. There's a lot of variety in her songwriting, but along with that I get the sense that she is really flailing about trying to figure out what she wants to do musically; but she's got talent so the sort of mish-mash that the songs some times sound like to me is interesting. I guess I should save this for her official thread which I see you started.

― _Rudipherous_, Friday, January 22, 2010 6:24 AM (9 minutes ago)

Yeah, there's definitely some stylistic variety, but I think that comes from (what I perceive as) a reticence to listen to older music. Based on some of her blog posts, she's not at the point yet where she's really curious about music older than she is. Feels unfair to label her another in a long line of Kate Bush clones, because it's not clear to me she's all that knowledgeable of Bush's catalogue.

from Nialler:

What music did you listen to when you were growing up?
I listened to very little when I was growing up. The only music i remember making a connection with was No Doubt’s first record. Haha! And I remember standing by the fireplace and singing ‘Wonderwall’ and feeling very passionate/ dramatic. Haha!

The songs you’ve shared thus far are quite dramatic and definitely have an air of Kate Bush which rings through more than other people in the last few years who have been compared to her. Do you mind? Are you a fan? What are your favourite Bush songs?
I don’t mind. I don’t give it much thought. Not to say I don’t appreciate it, I am very flattered. When people started comparing me to her about three years ago, I was like ‘Who’s Kate Bush?’. Can you imagine?! Anyway, I got mum to send me six songs of hers in the post. ‘Babooshka’, ‘Running Up That Hill’, ‘Wuthering Heights’.. I definitely fell in love instantly. An instant click, it felt like she was my sonic sister and in a very genuine way. Not because I had every tried to sound like her. I really can’t imagine doing anything worse.

there's definitely some stylistic variety, but I think that comes from (what I perceive as) a reticence to listen to older music

That's not what I would have expected, because to me it sounds like she is listening to lots of older music, so that's interesting if true. Of course, there's a lot that one can absorb by osmosis, which I suspect is what is going on in her case, though maybe she is simply re-inventing things in certain cases.

I'm a little nervous that her ambition to be a pop star could undermine her, in her specific case, because it sounds to me as if she has real talent as a creator and doesn't need to be industrialized.

She doesn't sound that much like recent pop music to me, though I am certainly not tuned in enough to really say with any confidence. As I said before, her vocals do remind me of Shakira at times, and I don't particularly like when she gets into that territory, but it doesn't bother me enough to make me tune out (for now).

Since I'm not much of a Britney fan, I'm not thrilled with the prospect of Marina working with Britney's producer (or one of them or whatever that article I linked to before said), though I'm certainly willing to give the results a listen.

I'm really hooked on "I am not a Robot" right now.

I think people can be forgiven for imagining a Kate Bush influence at 2:16 on "Mowgli's Road" if nowhere else, haha. (Not saying there is, just saying it's easy to see why people would make that comparison.) Funny thing: I keep hearing "Mowgli's Road" in my head mashed up with the chorus of Janelle Monae's "Come Alive." Okay, I probably should get off this thread, since my presence may be a kiss of death, or it might at least temporarily stunt the thread's growth potential.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_oMD6-6q5Y

I Am Not a Robot was one of my favourite songs of 2009, and she's got a lot of raw talent. There's a lot of stylistic discrepancy and I don't think she has a firm sense of herself as an artist yet, but I like most of what she ends up doing.

Seventeen is wonderful. Hollywood is...um...good, but confused?

Honestly, my biggest fear is that she'll end up catching a lot of flak over things extraneous to the music. While she cops to not being incredibly well-informed about certain things, she seems very thoughtful (both on her website and in her songs) - by which I mean, she's using her music as a place through which to puzzle out how she feels about herself, society, etc. etc. But viz. Hollywood, it doesn't always happen in the most coherent or accurate fashion - a little didactic at times. And if 2009 taught us anything, it's that people are generally looking for an excuse to prove that buzzed-about pop women are stupid (see: Quietus and Florence) or otherwise objectionable (see: La Roux).

So while it seems perverse to me to punish the kind of musician who will publicly reflect on, for example, Shakira's video for 'She Wolf', her own reaction to it, and how that slots into her own concerns about marketing herself/her sexuality/image, it's likely going to happen. And it won't be pretty.

I'm kind of sad that I didn't hear some of my favorite singles from 2009 until after I had submitted my ballot. I would have voted for "Mowgli's Road," and for that matter I probably would have at least also nominated "I Am Not A Robot." But there's next year to vote for the album, assuming I like it enough overall to want to do so. (And anyway, not sure why I should really be wringing my hands over silly ILM EOY poll.)

Alex is right. One of the things that's endeared her to me the most, besides the music itself, is that she does everything out in the open. She thinks out loud. It will most certainly add fuel to the fire when it comes time for the backlash, but in the mean time I look forward to seeing her put the pieces together.

All I know is she's got songwriting talent in spades and I just hope she doesn't let it get crushed by other people with their own ideas of what she should sound like. (It's not as though that should even be necessary for commercial success, since she's certainly very accessible.)

That "you don't know fuck about my family" reminds me of a fight I heard a couple of my neighbors having earlier this year, since a lot of what the woman in the couple was saying was very much along those lines, in content and expression.

Also that phrase "hotly tipped" (which seems to be in the press kit or something) sounds really silly to me, and vaguely obscene, making me want to use it myself.

First heard her quite a while ago, loved "Mowgli's Road" (sounds like Dr Who theme tune) and "I am not a robot" for some reason took ages to completely bowl me over but now it's one of my most-listened to tracks.

I got her confused with Florence & the Machine when she/they came along but Marina's so much lovelier.

Florence seemed to come out of the gate with all her shit together, which is fine. It's good shit. But I love watching Marina evolve.

I'm really hooked on "I am not a Robot" right now.

― _Rudipherous_, Friday, January 22, 2010 8:44 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark

^^ This.

But I kind of wish I hadn't just watched that video.

still love this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwfCjYv7gVQ

I'm obsessed with the mess that's Marina (well not really obsessed):

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2010/jan/25/marina-and-the-diamonds-gonzales

I actually think this song is the weakest, or at least the most problematic, of the bunch, but in another way it's kind of hard to resist.

I think my biggest problem with "Hollywood" is the whole "Oh my god" segment, which isn't funny enough to justify her over-the-top mimicking. It seems too much like a Valley girl imitating another Valley girl or something. Does she imagine more distance from herself than the target of her mockery, or is one finger also intentionally pointing back at herself? I don't really know.

That could become an issue in general: she is not necessarily so distance from what it is that she is distancing herself from. Of course, that can also potentially lead to interesting tensions. To quote one of her own myspace comments again: "Can you be within popular culture without becoming it?" Answer: no, or at least generally no. Is that what she wants to do?

Her site just got professionally revamped, and they seem to have swept away almost all of her more curious/candid blog posts. Shame on you, 679/Atlantic records.

Booooo!

I'm having a hard time maintaining any concern about whether "Hollywood" makes any sense because on repeated listens I'm actually more and more bowled over by the overall sound. (I bet it would sound better if I didn't understand English though. Not that she doesn't come up with some good lines and stuff.)

I'd be really surprised if she doesn't blow up pretty big in the U.S. (but then again I may not understand the pop world enough to be so sure).

Hollywood has some cringe-worthy lyrics, but I've been able to overlook them because I, too, am into the overall sound.

She's too weird for US chart pop (even charts where Grizzly Bear and Vampire Weekend have #1 albums). Her fame will be fueled by BBC dj's and blogs.

"Obsessions" is still a little lower for me than most of the other songs I've heard (which is just a few) but my favorite part of that is the nonsense syllables in the middle.

Incidentally, it would potentially be great for me if she did end up digging into her Greek heritage and stealing some ideas from Greek music, because there's a lot of accessible greatness in that music. Also, I'd be curious to know more about distinctively Welsh music (which seems to have a lower profile than Irish or Scottish music, for instance).

Of course, she could be just fine without delving into those things--I'm just thinking they could add interest for me in the future.

http://www.covershut.com/covers/Stereophonics---Keep-Calm-And-Carry-On-2009-Front-Cover-22131.jpg

?

I've been hearing a lot about her over the last year but somehow managed to not actually hear any of her songs. After going through this thread and watching her video's I'm really impressed. Marina seems like she's doing a similar kind of thing to Florence & The Machine but with much better songs and a much better voice.

Her vocals on Hollywood remind me so much of Lene Lovich which is no bad thing.

The rework/rearrangement she did with Gonzales make me like "Hollywood" quite a bit more than before:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP6JdJddn08

Here's an album sampler video too (that I made from the iTunes clips). If you're on the fence about looking forward to the album, this will push you one way or the other. If you don't want to ruin your first impressions, do not click the play arrow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK8UOR9Nx1Q

I don't have enough discipline to want to be surprised.

Hmmm. Hard to tell what I'm going to think of these other songs based on the snippets. "Numb" sounds promising. "Shampain": most 80s sounding track of hers yet? "Girls" is a bit ironic for me since I sent a link to some Marina to a female friend who made some nasty comment about Marina being a girl and not liking girls. (She generally doesn't like female vocalists, and in fairness to all parties, listens to even less pop than I do. I mean, I didn't really expect her to like Marina at all, so it was somewhat pointless on my part.)

Shampain has been my favorite song of hers for a long, long time. Numb sounds so wonderfully fleshed out now compared to its demo form, though. It could become a favorite.

I wasn't sure if I was going to get this album but it's currently listed at 4.99 on Amazon so I couldn't resist. Free postage too.

I think Hollywood is my least favorite of the singles she's put out so far, it does have me wanting to play my Lene Lovich albums though.

4.99

Assuming you mean GBP? The lowest I can find it on import to the US is 13.99 USD (which is really good for an import, btw).

She's on Jonathan Ross this week, but I'll have to wait another week until it airs on BBC America.

Yes, Lene Lovitch.

She was on GMTV this morning, Marina I mean.

One of those "I'll mention America in my lyrics, and slightly suggest it's not all wonderful but not as much as would put off the USA from me"

She wrote a blog a long time ago (which Atlantic/679 handlers have conveniently wiped from existence) about she really is obsessed with America, everything good and bad about it. Not in a political sense or anything, but in the consumer and pop culture aspects. Especially the things that are glorified in movies like cheerleaders and muscle cars.

Yeah sorry, should have made that clear it's on Amazon.co.uk. I'm not sure if it's a mistake that's a ridiculous price but I got my order in straight away.

The single is apparently just outside the top 10 at the moment so hopefully Jonathan Ross will push her into the top 10.

I saw the performance on GMTV this morning, she was pretty good despite the awkward interview before.

The lowest I can find it on import to the US is 13.99 USD (which is really good for an import, btw).

Crap, I just pre-ordered it for several dollars more than that. Where did you see that price? (I don't generally pre-order things either, but I just pre-ordered the new Tokyo Jihen, so I am on a roll. Any CDs I'm going to get this month, I'm going to have to wait for I guess. Unless I want to spend money I don't want to spend, but nope, I don't.)

I read something where she said her father listened to nothing but classical Greek music (and choral church music--or maybe that was her mother), so I'm curious now what she means by that. Does she really mean classical music, or does she mean classic Greek singers like Kazantzidis and Marinella?

CDWOW is where I buy most of my UK imports... reliably cheap.
http://www.cdwow.us/search?q=marina+and+the+diamonds&t=all

It's a really good album: I'd managed to be aware of all the press without ever hearing a note of music, and I wish I'd paid attention as the singles came out. They are the standouts, as someone hearing the songs for the first time all together, but the rest isn't just filler. Like Mark G, my first thought was Lene Lovich, mannered in the same way, but Marina manages to make it coquettish rather than harpyish, and she uses the mannerisms to serve the songs.

I still haven't heard the whole album, but I like Alex Petridis's review (!): http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/feb/18/marina-and-the-diamonds-cd-review

Although it looks like maybe the whole thing is now streaming on her myspace? Anyway, I'm once again listening through what's there to stream, which is a lot more than what was up before.

don't think there is a bad song on here

I do find that my ambivalence still tends to just get rolled right over by the quality of the songs.

(Mostly talking about the music, and not the lyrics, though they lyrics are by no means all bad or lacking. Some interesting stuff there as well.)

music is great, but her persona, presence, and of course voice, is what does it for me

That Petridis review is terrible. He's getting to the stage where his wacky comedic routine completely crowds out any sense he may or may not be talking:

You could argue that this kind of thing represents a reaction to the post-Mariah-Carey-heavily-melismatic-Waaah!-Bodyform! style that X Factor voters seem to believe represents the apogee of distaff vocal achievement. The more cynically minded might suggest that, at root, it's actually no different: a load of irritating ­vocal tics designed to convey a depth of ­emotion that, if it ­actually existed in the ­performance in the first place, wouldn't need a load of irritating vocal tics to convey it. Certainly, you could argue that it's equally predictable. Just as you know that sooner or later the female singer who tends to the heavily-melismatic-Waaaah!-Bodyform! style will sing a song about reachin' for her dreams, so within ­seconds of The ­Family ­Jewels' opening, you're gripped by the absolute ­certainty that, at some point, this album will feature a Brecht and Weill-influenced oompah-oompah song in which the I'm-a-bit-nutty staccato is deployed as if it's about to be declared ­illegal

This is not the work of a man I consider qualified to talk about irritating tics.

Yeah, well I'm not going to expend any energy defending him, for sure, and I read it quickly, but I thought he got at some of what I am ambivalent about in Marina & the Diamonds.

I should add that some of the time I really like what she does with her vocal theatrics. Once I get the CD I may sit down and figure out when I like them and whether it matters and whether it remains consistent. The bit of friction and ambivalence may actually work to make her retain my long term interest. I don't know.

(This sounds like a surprisingly conservative aesthetic coming from him, but then again he does sometimes surprise me with such comments: a load of irritating ­vocal tics designed to convey a depth of ­emotion that, if it ­actually existed in the ­performance in the first place, wouldn't need a load of irritating vocal tics to convey it. Not necessarily saying I strongly disagree, I just am surprised he would make a comment along those lines. I'm sure I talk that way sometimes, but speaking of emotional depth as somehow "existing in the performance" is leaving oneself open to some pretty tough questions about the place of artifice and the importance (or not) of what a performer is experiencing emotionally during a performance.)

Petridish is a cock, a.p.u.

I'm sorry I mentioned his name on this thread, since it becomes too much of a red flag.

I feel really loyal to the kind of 'bbc pop' axis this belongs to - this and Mika and Little Boots and maybe La Roux feel very unashamed of what they are, smart quirky pop from people of my age of my age and musical background (Alisha's Attic/ Indie Teenhood/ Raving and Xenomania) - it's flattering to me to imagine someone fifteen, hearing those songs and thinking that path wise and full of mystery.

I'm sort of kicking myself now for downloading and listening to the leaked album. It would've been so much more fun to snag this out of the mailbox, hop in the car, and tear down the road listening to "Shampain" at full blast.

That said, I love this record.

went to see her live last night. the diamonds were a little polished and perfunctory, I felt. sometimes they felt like a seasoned pub ska band...not a vibe I've got from any of the recorded stuff. was kind of anticipating/hoping for a little extra oomph and dirt in the live setting.

but marina herself was fantastic - really strong, confident performer, and her voice is utterly magnificent. and she came on dressed as a sheep. victory!

Since she's pretty much it and there is no identifiable band to speak of, it doesn't surprise me that her live backing band might be an issue.

Suprisingly good album - I haven't heard the EPs before, just thought the here's the new Florence Welch, but Marina is much better. Her voice in 'Are You Satisfied?' is totally Ari Up.

yeah, ari up and finish (!!!!!!)

Timing. I'm thinking timing is one of her big strengths musically (and I mean timing in the music, not timing of career moves or whatever). Maybe I mean pacing, but I think I mean timing in a broader sense. I think it's one of the ways she extricates herself from the problematic corners she sometimes backs herself into. But I just woke up.

Inspired specifically by the sudden switch in "Hollywood" when she sings: "Your mind is just like mine. . ."

That's an interesting way to put into words what I like about her too. xp

Thanks.

Another little detail. On "I Am Not a Robot": Could a more gentle delivery be possible for "Don't be so pathetic"? Can you imagine how most people would sing that? I don't even wince imagining myself on the receiving end. (And it's also unexpected that the overall context is telling someone to admit their vulnerability and weakness, in which case the delivery makes perfect sense.)

You know, if it wasn't for the fact that landfill indie is dead and British pop is all about glamorous quirky girls now, I could have sworn this record sounded almost exactly like the Kaiser Chiefs.

I think maybe the little differences make a big difference. Dunno, I'm too ambivalent in my liking for this to wanna think about those lumpen gits just yet.

Plus there's not much that isn't improved by having a woman singing on it rather than the bloke out of Kaiser Chiefs. Plus hell the band aren't that lumpen.

Lumpen is a good word actually, despite the instrumentation it's got that awful Killers/Kaiser Chiefs mid-00s clumsy rock production sound to it. I'm not a Florence stan by any means but she's a million times better than this - she at least understands the value of build and momentum.

And she's a really charmless personality, that opening track in particular. She feels unbearable sneery in too many places - Girls (the *really* Kaiser Chiefs track here) just set my teeth on edge in almost every way.

I haven't heard enough Florence to make a comparison (and what I've heard didn't not draw me in), but I think her understanding of the value of build and momentum is what I was trying to get at as one of Marina's strong points. Maybe build and momentum isn't quite it, but I think she does a good job of sustaining attention by moving things along. To me, she plays very effectively with musical tension (again, I might want to qualify that with "in her best songs," since there are some album tracks I've hardly heard much).

I also really only know the Kaiser Chiefs in name, so now I'm curious to listen to them and see if they have as much going for them in terms of tunefulness as Marina. I am skeptical.

But I can understand being put off by her being too sneery.

tbh I don't hear the Kaiser Chiefs comparison at all. huh?

Listening now and attempting to ignore their awful videos (some of hers are awful too-and they are just bad in a typical rock video way, I don't mean to single them out). Okay, instead of just saying "WTF?" let me ask this: in what way is Marina & the Diamonds like the Kaiser Chiefs?

What Matt said about the middle of the road flatness of the sound I think. Gonzales' re-jig of "Hollywood" offers evidence that the songs - which I mostly think are v. good - could be arranged and performed much more interestingly than they are on the album. Think this is why Joni and Kate only work as references as long as you forget that their records sound unique. Unique sound is missing here.

Still far prefer her to any of her alleged contemporaries tho.

I guess I know what you mean. I think there may be more distinctive layers of sound packed into these recordings than she's being given credit for, but I need to listen more. Maybe I'm confusing "unique/unusual sounds" for an overall unique/distinctive sound. My initial impression of the drum sounds is that they are pretty generic, and I guess the synth washes are pretty much the same (as far as sound goes) although for some reason I tend to really like them.

I do agree that she's not an original Joni or Kate, at least not on the music she's put out so far.

(I don't especially like the Gonzales version of Hollywood, but that's beside the point even if I just said it.)

Okay, instead of just saying "WTF?" let me ask this: in what way is Marina & the Diamonds like the Kaiser Chiefs?

Yeah, as you mention in your subsequent post, it's NOT arrangement I'm talking about here, although as NV mentions there's a 00s indie flatness/loudness in the production.

What I'm getting at is the songrwriting, the lyrics, the melodies, to an extent her demonstrative exaggerated vocal stylings and definitely the blunt social caricature in the lyrics are all smack bang in the same lineage as the Kaisers. She's much closer to tarted-up Britpop than Joni or Kate or whichever names are being thrown around these days. Considering she'd have grown up listening to that music it's not surprising.

Also there's a 'na na na' bit in Girls than I'm positive comes straight out of a Kaiser Chiefs record, although I'm buggered if I'm listening back to their catalogue to find out which one.

'Girls' reminds me to Kaiser Chiefs too with this 'na na na na na' line, but that won't make it a bad song. (And yes, I think there was a couple of good songs on that first Kaiser Chiefs LP, though it's not cool to admit these days.)

With their "na na na na na nas" Kaiser Chiefs remind me of Chris Kenner.

I have listened to 'I am not a robot' many, many, many times since seeing her on friday.

got the album yesterday... been on repeat since. when it's good (shampain, are you satisfied, mowgli, robot, rootless, girls), it's fairly jaw-dropping and completely addictive. but a fair chunk of the second half is markedly less instantly appealing. we'll see... even so, I haven't had a capital-p pop album totally dominate my waking and sleeping brain like this in... well, maybe ever? scary.

absolutely beautiful version of 'robot' from the review show last week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x94tuTe9wmg

after initially being underwhelmed, oh no! and numb have really blossomed for me.

the former has a really strong PWL vibe on the chorus, which is a phrase I've never used in a positive context before.

numb is gloriously devotional in its shameless soaring, and her voice sounds fantastic here, even though her upper-register veers a little close to the shrill unbearableness of la roux.

Does part of "Are You Satisfied?" remind anyone else of the chorus of Madonna's "American Life" (a song I think I like more than most people on ILM, even though I probably like Madonna less than mostpeopleonILM)? Or maybe it's just the general sentiment, and maybe "Hollywood" has primed me to hear musical echoes of "American Life" where there aren't really any? (For the record I think I fully understand why people would hate "American Life," but I'm a little surprised that so many do.)

Also, I do love that sheep jacket.

Anyhow, I think I'll probably have more to say. My CD finally arrived today.

not really familiar enough with american life to comment...

however, AYS?, along with hollywood, is one of the more lyrically uncomfortable/fascinating songs here, but I can't quite pin down why.

it's a theme which recurs throughout the album – the way in which her overwhelming need to be successful has marred her personal life – but there's something hyper-meta about the first line on the first track on your debut album being about getting the deal that made the album possible. it has a hollowing effect, makes it seem as if this was created in a vacuum.

combined with the somewhat patronising talk of 'average lives' (again, echoed in Hollywood), she makes it seem as if the unconstructed, pre-deal, pre-fame marina barely even existed. it's like she's really trying hard to position herself outside the celebrity culture, but in many ways her naked ambition embodies its worst aspects, to detrimental personal effect, and she's struggling to reconcile the two.

(I have listened to this album non-stop since getting it, btw. I think it's really wonderful.)

I was coming back to post this:

I would kind of say that the maximalism of the sound, the number of effects and touches of this and that, makes up for what some people have called its generic production (though I'm not at all sure I'm bothered by the generic production in this case, if that's what it is).

combined with the somewhat patronising talk of 'average lives' (again, echoed in Hollywood), she makes it seem as if the unconstructed, pre-deal, pre-fame marina barely even existed.

Right, not to mention the rest of us normaloids and nobodies.

I occasionally am reminded of the absurd--intentionally absurd, I certainly think--patronizing tone of the Kinks' Soap Opera (not that I particularly like that album or anything, but at one time I used to listen to it a lot, way way back in elementary school and early high school, so it's sort of there in my head even though it doesn't matter to me).

(Now listening to something from Soap Opera which has nothing really to do with Marina & the Diamonds, but it may be time for me to give it a chance again because it sounds better than it did last time I checked.)

yeah, the production is anything but generic, really. lots of detailed touches, subtlety and dynamics going on.

the most curious thing is that the times where the lyrics become clunky or condescending don't detract from her appeal. if anything, the opposite... without wanting to make any crass 'flaws in the diamond' remarks, it is these slightly awkward, insensitive moments that remind you she's not a slick, polished entity, but a young, arguably naive but self-reflective artist engaged in a continual process of redesigning herself as something bolder and brighter. she's interesting but not always admirable, if that's not too condescending a thing to say in and of itself.

Right, not to mention the rest of us normaloids and nobodies.

I guess being young and carving out an identity for yourself is to some degree ALL about distancing yourself from the normaloids - then once you've done so, realising that you are one, and so is everybody else. a line decrying the lives of the 'average' might rankle the jaded old folks, but inspire the young and hopeful.

without wanting to make any crass 'flaws in the diamond' remarks, etc.

That did make me laugh out loud. . . I think I know what you're saying. Again, I'm a little surprised that I seem to be so willing to drink the shampain koolaid in this case, but it's just coming pretty naturally.

One thing that's been happening for me, which started happening before I got the album, is that I've become much more certain that I like her voice, which has quite a big range. (I don't mean technical octave type stuff, but range of effects I suppose. Even the variety in her English seems interesting. Sometimes it seems more heavily accented in I guess some local way. I mean, I don't really know UK accents in much detail at all, so I can't be specific.)

she adopts an exaggerated estuary english at times, kind of a generic take on a london/street accent, which is a highly malleable concept in and of itself.

a lot of thought has gone into keeping things mobile and protean, vocally. it provides lots of a lovely, playful detail, but it's not the focus. in his review, petridis seemed distracted and discombobulated by the fact that she doesn't have one vocal style that she sticks to. he massively overplays it though, to the extent that I'm almost disappointed that she's nowhere near as wild and allegedly unpalatable as he makes her out to be.

I do tend to think the second half &/or the non-single/not-previously-myspace-posted tracks are weaker than the others, but not bad, and probably good enough for albums tracks considering the strength of some of the stand-out tracks, and even these may grow on me over time. "Hermit the Frog," for instance, is just okay for a while, but when the melody switches up and it's got a more lyrical feeling, it's pretty lovely (I'm thinking around 1:07).

I think I know the bit you mean... it's where she goes all Sparks for a moment, yes?

Sorry, don't really know them.

for shame!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na8oDCKp6AU

Definite resemblances. I have had my own peculiar, unsystematic exposure to music so there are these gaps. I remember someone who used to post on this board being completely flabbergasted that I had never heard the band Love given the other things I was familiar with.

hey, didn't we all? I'm a relatively recent convert to sparks myself. no slight intended.

Considering they have been around since the 70s and have recently put out a track like that, they are probably worth checking out.

In a way I'm okay with the fact that a lot of the ILM singles jukebox crew don't like this album. Why shouldn't I like something that people who like tons of stuff I don't like don't like?

How the hell does "Girls" sound that much like a German cabaret song, incidentally? Some critic or other said something about that (maybe it was in that Petridis review).

Some of these lyrics are way more interesting than I could make out just from listening, "Obsessions" in particular.

In a way I'm okay with the fact that a lot of the ILM singles jukebox crew don't like this album. Why shouldn't I like something that people who like tons of stuff I don't like don't like?

well, quite. I'm okay with it too, mostly because I had no idea there was such a thing. are you on it?

No, despite all the time I spend here I am not interested in trying to be a critic or reviewer or whatever. Some of the reviewers might not be ILMers:

http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/

Did I say I like the way the lyrics sometimes sound like they want to collapse into nonsense syllables (like when she sings "I was just a kid that you could not forgive because it's harder").

In a way I'm okay with the fact that a lot of the ILM singles jukebox crew don't like this album. Why shouldn't I like something that people who like tons of stuff I don't like don't like?

I mean, but a lot of us like her perfectly fine...both Mowgli's Road and Hollywood were just shy of 6s on the aggregate score, which while not universal acclaim is pretty much par for the course for most singles - it's just that those who dislike her do so strongly and loudly, whereas there hasn't been a lot of trumpeted LOVE.

And part of that is probably because we didn't review 'Robot' and 'Obsessions' and 'Hollywood' are going to be grating to a certain kind of listener for specific reasons - Obsessions does the drama school voice ALL OVER THE PLACE and Hollywood is probably the most cringeworthy lyrical moment on the album. You know? Like...general consensus seems to be "she's alright, but gets in her own way a lot" and while I really dig the album, I think it's a fair evaluation of her as an artist at the moment.

And also, it's not like there's any MEASURE of consensus anywhere over at Jukebox except when it comes to Taylor Swift, DJ Quik & Kurupt and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

True, but I didn't quite say that everyone on Singles Jukebox had agreed she was awful. I admit it's misleading to talk about the Singles Jukebox Crew as if it speaks with one voice (when it clearly does not at all).

I just find she's one of those artists whose flaws and strengths are difficult to even tease apart. I happen to like her a lot.

I finally got my cd copy in the mail yesterday, but I haven't played it yet. I think I od'ed on the album when it leaked (and the songs in demo form for the last two years). I'm going to have to put her aside for a short while and come back with fresh ears. I still love her, and I want to keep doing so.

When she talks about being visually oriented, I think it's quite apparent in her lyrics, in a good way.

a young, arguably naive but self-reflective artist engaged in a continual process of redesigning herself as something bolder and brighter

Just an aside: listening to this album is making me think I have reached some sort of milestone in aging (depressing phrase on the surface) where I appreciate the strength that youth can bring to music, without resenting that youthfulness.

"Running with my roots pulled up" is a pretty good image, and somehow conjures up more of that folkloric atmosphere that runs through the album. (Not musically folkloric, but folk tale folkloric. Fairy tales, folk tales, children's stories, etc. I think maybe that's a reflection of her intensely visual imagination.)

Her most Fiona moment: starts at 1:42 on "Numb." (Note: I'm not that familiar at all with Fiona Apple, but this really jumps out for some reason.)

m the g, what does "PWL vibe" mean (in reference to "Oh No!"), because that's one of the album tracks that's starting to stand out for me. I like the constantly churning changes in the vocals, the effects. Listening to it just now I was thinking I'd almost like to see her go even further in varying vocal effects and studio effects.

PWL = Pete Waterman Limited/Stock, Aitken and Waterman. hugely successful and much reviled 80s pop factory responsible for the likes of kylie minogue, big fun, sonja, rick astley, mel & kim, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhYFuLtVJU8

oh no! has a similar cheap and sonically enthusiastic vibe, even if the lyrics are much more negative.

The more I listen to the second half of the album, the more I wonder just how intense a personal back story there is to all of this gloom.

The songs toward the end (but also some of the themes appearing in earlier tracks) seem more like what you would write after an established career, reflecting back on the uglier aspects of what brought you to that accomplishment. It's like there is already this whole imagined career arc right on her debut. (Maybe this is all more common than I would think since I spend so little of my time paying attention to English language pop singers in any detail.)

Of course the first song sets that whole dynamic up, since she starts off talking about the record deal itself.

I know someone already made a point of how that runs through the whole album. It just hadn't hit me before listening to the album a bunch of times (and I never downloaded it before getting the CD, although I did stream the whole thing a few times I guess).

You did, m:

it's a theme which recurs throughout the album – the way in which her overwhelming need to be successful has marred her personal life – but there's something hyper-meta about the first line on the first track on your debut album being about getting the deal that made the album possible. it has a hollowing effect, makes it seem as if this was created in a vacuum.

I think this is what I was just trying to get at. I like that "hyper-meta" and the sense of vacuum. Yeah, it's like the anticipated fame, the success, the disillusionment are all springing out fully formed. I read somewhere or other (not necessarily anywhere authoritative) that the label didn't want her to put that song first--for understandable reasons (way to win people over: beginning your debut griping about the stresses of success), but good for her to have gotten her way. It makes perfect sense starting the album with that song.

Hmmm:

http://www.myspace.com/gagglespace

I really hope she blows up in popularity right in the faces of all the popist critics who dismiss her.

her album went to no.2 in the first week, which is a good start. much as I could care less about the popist critics, it'll be interesting to see how she does, particularly in comparison to her peers - florence, la roux, bat for lashes. I'd argue marina has stronger, more idiosyncratic songs, a better voice and a little more edge than those three, but may be a little too prickly and self-involved to achieve their mass appeal. it's also potentially problematic that her biggest song - hollywood - is both the weakest and most problematic on the album.

One thing that I think is being missed is her sense of humor about herself. I can't hear "And it's my problem if I have no friends and feel I want to die" (especially the way its sung) as other than at least partly funny. There's something about the lines in "Hollywood" (lines curiously missing from the liner notes): "I itch my skin/I jump up and say. . ." that I hear as somehow clued in to the absurdity of her extreme theatricality. I don't know, maybe I'm just projecting all sorts of stuff that isn't there, but in that case this album makes a fabulous ink blot. (Speaking of skin, in "Obsessions" she sings: "skin is on fire" even though the printed lyrics change this to "cheeks are on fire." Something tells me "skin is on fire" was just a little too confessional.)

There's also a lot of detail that I don't think is being given its do. I find something oddly compelling, for instance, about the way she starts to mumble-sing the "fast car" part in "Girls" before it begins in earnest. Also, where does that even come from and why does it work as well as it does? It seems a bit mysterious.

Question: what percentage of the time when she is addressing someone else or talking about someone else is she actually not addressing herself or talking about herself?

And I wonder if that will flip at some point. I wonder if rather than populating her songs with projections of herself she will at some point find her identity spread across others? She is a Libra after all, so there's a good chance this thing is going to want to balance itself out, plus there's the general other-directedness of Libra (though that's complicated in this case by her Leo moon).

I was with you until the astrology...!

anyway... I think it's fair to say it's ALL about her. and you're spot on about the little details: like the tiny glock chime that accompanies the word 'pins' in 'robot'. the halted, cut-up syllables at the end of 'satisfied'. the digital 'to be l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ved' in mowgli, the rhythm of which is foreshadowed in the previous bar. the way the chords of the moroder riff shift towards the end of 'shampain', emphasising her decline into drunken despondency... lots to chew on.

anyway... I think it's fair to say it's ALL about her

Which is double-edged, but on the more positive side, it means that when she is being didactic it's really as if she were writing exhortations to herself in a journal; and when she is being extremely critical, she's often at least partly criticizing herself. (I can't imagine anyone writing what she does in "Girls" whatever the lines are--I'm at work now so no music--about making money out of you insecurities, without realizing she is describing her own album.)

I keep telling myself I'm going to go through and catalog all my favorite small details on the album, but then I just end up bouncing along to it over and over again.

(Pathetically quick reply because works is slow tonight/this morning/whatever.)

not only that, but 'girls' rails against an obsession with stereotypically feminine fripperies and dieting, which must surely dwell on her mind every time she sings it, given that a) she's clearly worked hard to lose weight in the past few months, and b) is now doing a spot of modelling:

http://www.asos.com/Women/Women-Landing-Pages/20100219Fmarinaandthediamondsw/Cat/pgehtml.aspx?cid=10092

I sort of don't want to be reminded of what a painfully great figure she has (not complaining to you, just commenting in general).

like the tiny glock chime that accompanies the word 'pins' in 'robot'.

Yeah, I'm waiting for the Pantha du Prince remix.

like the tiny glock chime that accompanies the word 'pins' in 'robot'.

This is my favourite musical moment of the year! I'm not wild about Mowgli's (I can't get over 'spoons' - it sounds really student) and Hollywood is ugh, but I'm Not A Robot is just really wonderful and exciting.

I hate to say it but sometimes she reminds me of Jim Morrison. (Hate to say it because I don't like Jim Morrison.) Or even Genesis P-Orridge, possibly doing Jim Morrison, especially in that fast car bit at the end of "Girls"--that's exactly what it makes me think of: Genesis P-Orridge doing Jim Morrison.

I have a whole backlog of wacky things to say about this album.

I'm starting to think that the latter third of this album has some of its strongest work. numb, rootless, oh no! and guilty have graduated from underwhelming to stunning.

(all of which just makes hollywood seem more and more inexplicable)

Agreed, at this point I think at least that those last four songs are as strong as the rest (but I like Hollywood too).

I kind of like hollywood, but somewhat against my instincts/better judgement. it works best as a single, but seems highly anomalous in the context of the album.

I don't see where it's so removed thematically from her overall concerns about success/glamor, the ambivalence that runs throughout much of the album. And I don't hear it is sonically so different from "Oh No!" or "Girls," so I don't know. Speaking of "Girls," some of the same sort of complaints that could be made about Hollywood's lyrics could be made about it, I think. If anything "I Am Not a Robot" seems out of place somehow, even though it's very likely her strongest song. I don't know if it should have been placed somewhere differently in the album sequence, or if it just doesn't completely fit.

I do think I was exaggerating before when I suggested that her songs on this album are really solely populated with projections of herself. I don't hear "Guilty" as Marina addressing herself, and I think it's a stretch to interpret "Obessions" that way too.

(Incidentally, there are a couple seconds of electronic squiggles in "Shampain" that remind me of something in a Shiina Ringo song, but I haven't tracked that one down yet, probably because it's been a while since I've listened to Shouso Strip.)

'hollywood's swipes are not just at hollywood though, are they? calling an entire country 'a mess' is not a culture-specific assault like in 'girls', but is an attack (albeit in an affectionate, patronising kind of way) on a whole nation. and that stuff about the air hostess: gack!

sonically it's not a million miles from 'oh no!' (although it's more bloated, less effervescent) but the latter benefits from juxtaposed self deprecation, whereas 'hollywood's gaze turns outwards, so comes across as a little smug.

America is a mess, so as an American I have no problem with that, though I doubt Marina's list of what's wrong with the US would match mine too precisely.

In the course I reading interviews with her, I found one in which she said she was talking to herself in Hollywood. So I am perhaps being overly influenced by her own comments on it, but they do, after all, fit in with my own idea that she is talking to herself in a lot of the songs, even where it's not immediately obvious.

Still, I guess I have to agree it is her most stilted/pompous sounding song.

Have you noticed how often there is some stray sound at the end of a track? Easier to hear with headphones. Like the siren at the end of "Girls."

Listening to "Numb" at the moment and it really reminds me of big 70s production, with the strings and choir and everything (which is basically a good thing for me since the 70s is my favorite pop decade, even if this isn't necessarily my fave sound from the 70s).

I don't know why so many critics keep complaining about her lyrics. I think they are generally better than average (er, "Hollywood" aside, and maybe "Girls" as well). There are some imagistic threads that run through these songs (fast cars and stars, for instance--maybe she has been reading Dr. Seuss).

This album has saturated my brain so much that I think I'm not enjoying other music as much as I would otherwise. I want more that sounds like this. (Yes, I know I've been posting about other things, but for the most part it's been "eh, this sounds pretty good.")

I feel pretty certain she has at least a couple more good albums in her. The albums suggests lots of possible direction in which she could move, musically.

(Weird hours in a weird time zone. . .)

Took a while to get around to getting a physical copy of the album, but loving it so far. I'd actually forgotten how much I liked the stuff I'd heard some time ago (Mowgli's Road, Obsessions) - they've really grown on me. I don't find her style annoying at all, but I do listen to a LOT of female singers with 'unique' voices, so I guess it doesn't stick out so much for me.

Too lazy to dissect (and incapable of doing it in terms of music theory), but one thing I particularly like in her songs is how often they go through a lot of changes. Multiple choruses. Coming out of a chorus and arriving somewhere new melodically, rather than returning to what came before. Etc.

She has a song which gets into the Libra thing (though not in a way I'd expect):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mG6BrtIRd9w

Lots of stuff of hers on youtube that I haven't noticed until now. Not necessarily great but it's actually pretty good.

How many of her songs are out there online already that weren't on the album?

Most of the Mermaid vs. Sailor ep (which is really just crude bedroom demos and, truthfully, not so great). Everything else ended up on the album pretty much, but "Numb" and "Hollywood" were significantly bettered by the time of the album recordings.

Some of this stuff sounds pretty good to me. Better than the fucking Bush Tetras. (Why the Bush Tetras I'm not sure except the raw demo quality of some of this leaves it sounding a bit post-punk at times.)

Saw a (song-by-song) interview with Marina in which she said that "The Outsider" was the song that had the most takes. Interesting to me because I guessed a long while back that "I'm a fucking wild card" would be the segment that had that massive number of takes that one of them had. She didn't mention that particular line, but it seems like something she would struggle with. (I no longer listen to this album all the time, but do throw it on pretty frequently. It's sounding good tonight.)

Oh yeah, and she got all indignant in the interview, because the interviewer tosses off something like: "So was 'The Outsider' done pretty quickly in just a few takes?'" And she responds: "Why would you say that?" (or the like). I guess I should just find it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Qq4AYyKa1s

haha!

She looks nice & Greek there, too, I must say.

Maybe from those outdoor concerts giving her some more color.

these interviews are really interesting, thanks. particularly the way she almost disowns 'girls'.

The thing I like most about her reception by the music press is that there's a genuine interest in the process. Nobody ever digs this deep into La Roux's motivations or techniques, they don't care about Shakira's writing trials and errors. Marina is sort of an open book that way.

If this is really the track-list for the U.S. release, I don't like what they've done with the sequencing. This may be a bit knee-jerk, but I think "Numb" is a bit too much of a downer as a closer, though maybe it's how she's feeling at the moment. "Guilty" was also a downer in a way, but it feels like the most personal revelation on the album, so coming at the end it felt like a sort of climax. Also, the abrupt ending seems to form a circle with the beginning (and its "hyper-meta" lyrical theme, which gives "Are You Satisfied?" a certain thematic abruptness).

Interesting that "Seventeen" comes back from the dead for the US version. While I doubt she'll have a big radio single, that's one of her better chances.

Hmmm. I don't know. I like that song reasonably well, but I think some of the others might have a better chance. Like what? well maybe Hollywood, maybe Shampain, maybe even Mowgli's Road or I Am Not a Robot--probably I am dreaming though. Kind of hoping they will at least get a lot of college radio play (but maybe they already have).

This is blowing my mind again at the moment. So musical is what it comes down to.

Well I. . .

Video for "Oh No" just showed up. Bright and shiny!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr-SqRWImmI

Hmmm. It's okay. The derriere of the dancer in blue is kind of subverting any pop self-critique going on here, but I don't take the pop critique angle that seriously to begin with. A bit much that Marina ends it with the same smile that "Hollywood" ends with (if I recall corretly).

can we talk about that video? it's so painful it needs a safety word

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4D1HSL7P98

reminds me too much of this video in a not good way

I don't know why I'm cutting her slack for being a giddy 23 year old, because I'd crucify anyone else who did that probably. tbh, I'm not listening to The Family Jewels with the regularity I used to, but I still think that in five years she'll be better instead of worse.

It's a bad video. I'm not listening to the album as much as I did initially--but why would I? Things rarely stay in such heavy rotation for me for long. I still love it though.

Such a clever album

I didn't get that "Shampain" was a play on words – I was too dazzled by it fror the first 10 or so listens.

Also I think I would marry this chick. Is that legal over there?

sort of

Yay! Abbott's on board!

"Shampain" was my favorite of hers long before the album, and it's still my favorite now.

gonna give this a good listen btw - sounds like I might approve - although I am v work-busy so verdict might take a while to arrive

She's only two years younger than me so it won't be too weird.

I think she's dating one of the dudes from Hurts, but I'm sure they swing.

Still my second favorite album of the year!

I think she's brilliant musically and I expect her next album will make more of a dent.

http://i1044.photobucket.com/albums/b448/wotyougot/theo-marina2.jpg

I could beat this dude! I'll just start doing light eye makeup and dark lips so she & I contrast.

Having been introduced to 'I Feel Love' a little earlier I'm struck by how much in that vein 'Shampain' is!

I love "Oh No!" – I relate to the lyrics 90-100%. Plus it's just good uncut pop.

As discussed upthread, she's kind of unique in that her songs are an autobiographical open book without all the flowery songwriter poetry. Pre-major label days, her blog posts on (lol) Myspace were just like her songs. In fact, The Family Jewels is kind of like a blog set to music.

IDK I wouldn't say it's poetry free – like I said, I feel like it took me forever to figure out the conceits in Shampain. OTOH I see why choruses like "I feel numb most of the time" make you say blog-to-music. I'm just a poetry stan (or poetry "dave") at heart, hence the defensiveness.

I do agree w/you, though. She expresses a lot of feelings that are mundane* and vulnerable at the same time, feelings that don't end up in pop lyrics too often.

*not meant perjoratively

she is the frank capra of girlpop

lol

can't remember how banging Capra's tunesmithery was.

not as banging as this i reckon

Speaking of banging, I just watched the "Oh No!" vid and she draws a rainbow in the air. I am taking this as a "yes" to my proposal.

She told me on twitter once that she loved me because of something I wrote. I wish I would've screengrabbed it.

:D

"easy to be sleazy" <3 <3 <3

She told me on twitter once that she loved me because of something I wrote. I wish I would've screengrabbed it.

Yes, I would have wanted to archive that somehow.

I saved it as a favorite tweet, but about two weeks later it was gone. I gather she deleted it on her end.

Thus, our affair was short-lived! ;_;

The Library of Congress announced it was going to archive Twitter, but I don't know when that started (or much of anything else about it).

She probably wrote a song about it but realised it wasn't very good

'Tweet Fever'

haha

Having been introduced to 'I Feel Love' a little earlier

wtffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

yeah, o_O.

she can do way better than that Hurts guy.

I'm excited that she is apparently recording now or in the near future. I hope we get another album next year. It certainly sounds like it.

playing 10 mins walk from my house in two weeks

...for $50, fuck that noise

http://www.nme.com/news/marina-and-the-diamonds/54471

Marina And The Diamonds singer Marina Diamandis has said she's frustrated that she isn't as successful as she wants to be - describing her 2010 as "a failure".

Speaking to Australian radio station Undercover FM, Diamandis also said she was unhappy with how she had been promoted by her American record label.

"I feel more like a failure than a success," she said. "I haven’t done anything I want to do. For someone who wants to be one of the best artists of her generation, I've done fuck all."

The singer, who has always been outspoken about her ambitions, responded to a question about whether she was happy about her success in 2010 by saying: "No, I'm pissed off I'm not bigger."

She was specifically negative about her lack of success in the USA, blaming her American record label Chop Shop for not promoting her properly. "It’s [her American fanbase] been built purely on me and my online presence," she said. "The label haven't really promoted me at all."

Diamandis also spoke about the follow up to last year's debut album 'The Family Jewels', which she cancelled her planned January US tour to begin work on. "The second record will be all about the lyrics," she said. "It's quite political and it’s about feminism and sex. It's an abrasive pop record."

Gotta admit sounds a little bratty. I've talked about her w/ friends... we've all come to the general consensus that she's pretty "meh".

One one hand, she was never going to be the next Lady Gaga (or someone with a similar level of fame), but on the other hand she's absolutely right that her American label has dropped the ball. To my knowledge, she's been on television here exactly once in the last year (on Craig Ferguson's barely-watched late night show).

I think she's great but probably not for the same reasons she thinks she's great. In this case it's more about the music than the lyrics and persona and so forth, for me, though I wouldn't say those things don't count at all. It's a bit ominous the next one is supposed to be all about the lyrics, but it will probably turn out fine.

New song (one of a few new demos that are apparently floating about, although I haven't found them).

http://disconaivete.tumblr.com/post/2992155559/sex-yeah

I like it. It's not going to win her any fans around here. I don't think she's playing to her strengths by trying to be a social critic, but I like the music enough I don't care.

New album can't come soon enough for me.

Wank and The Socks

i only like a couple of her songs right now but she look intersting

'shampain' sounds like Army of Lovers imo

Here's a different one, "Living Dead"

http://soundcloud.com/meatmen/marina-the-diamonds-living-dead

Thanks for your research.

"Living Dead" sounds a little too much like Little Boots to me, but it's otherwise okay.

x-post

That ones okay. Parts of it are musically bombastic in a way I'm not into. Sounds like a potential hit though.

I mostly ignore all those other BBC acts, or whatever dismissive term people use. Actually, I have given some of them a chance, but haven't been into any allegedly related acts (not even Florence & the Machine, though I can see the appeal).

This sounds like it could have been a hit in the mid-to-late 80s.

Wait, Little Boots is one of those acts, right?

She was. No one's heard from her since (which seemed like an inevitability).

'shampain' sounds like Army of Lovers imo

Ha! Maybe that's why I like Marina so much.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3124/3189455965_161ea36934.jpg

Marina music

I need to go back and refresh my memory re: Army of Lovers, apparently.

tbh I don't hear the comparison at all but if there is a cosmic thread *somewhere* it makes sense – I would like anyone psychically connected to Army of Lovers

its just that one song and i think it has to do with the production and vocals on the chorus

Classy

yeah, that's not good. way to taint a beautiful song...

if anyone's interested, I splurged some words about The Family Jewels in my end-of-year blog a while back.

http://ocularonions.blogspot.com/2010/12/obligatory-fin-de-siecle-list-making.html

Good piece.

awesome piece, need to hear all the ones I haven't yet

also yeah the M&D album is great to dip into - the second half is almost ridiculously good as second halves of pop albums go - starting halfway through was kinda my way into this

thanks folks.

for me, it took a while to get to grips with the second half of The Family Jewels. it seemed weak compared to the opening tirade, but it definitely eventually revealed itself as the stronger half. seeing her do these songs live was the key, I think. rootless and numb and, especially, guilty were so powerful in the flesh.

I think I'm about ready for a new album. After a long break, The Family Jewels is sounding great again.

New stuffs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9txg0XicoJ0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU7GoCKSQfg

Radioactive is particularly poppy, but not in the way that will bring her any chart success.

They seem less interesting to me than what she's already released, but I could maybe become preoccupied with some of the changes she is making. Definitely hear her using her voice differently. Were these collaborations? It doesn't seem that the overall musical feel has her unique imprint. On first listens, Fear & Loathing appeals to me more.

Fear & Loathing is definitely the more nuanced of the two, as Radioactive is clearly a push for a hit single (produced by Stargate even). Apparently, there's some kind of "two sides of Marina" theme building for this second album...which seems gimmicky and dumb imo...but I'll wait until there are more than two songs by which to judge it.

Only two sides?

Apparently, there's some kind of "two sides of Marina" theme building for this second album

There's an awful "more facets to this diamond" promo tag line that I'm tempted to run with.

The first video also looks more like her idea. The second one is just too boring and cliche-ridden. (Could still be her idea.)

Not really feeling Radioactive despite it being the kind of thing I usually like. Maybe I get easily bored by songs that repeat the title really blatantly over and over? but there's an acoustic version which I actually prefer (this v rarely happens with me). She's been tweeting about 'electra heart' for about a million years; I assumed it was some kind of alter ego which yeah, seems beneath her....
I only recently heard 'Sinful' which has stuck in my head far more strongly.

Hmm...Homewrecker.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rN0eFK_hSUc

Sounds like Womanizer

I'm about 1/20th excited for this new album as I was her first one.

(perhaps even less)

There's a youtube of a new one Primadonna from a gig but the sound quality is crap so I stopped listening.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV2rUvraywg&feature=channel

That's supposed to be the "real" lead single from the album. I like it far more than Homewrecker.

Sounds like Pet Shop Boys. (Homewrecker, that is.)

http://i.imgur.com/IejyB.jpg

I like the video distortion trick.

Prima Donna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj5L9SYhoSE

really wanna like this new stuff but that sounds like .. the old stuff Xd with bits of the production off Femme Fatale era Britney.

in its defense, Prima Donna is probably the best of these new tracks and I understand why they've saved it to be the "kickoff" single.

pisces otm, was thinking same.

i like this prima donna song it's cute

sounds like katy perry a lot more than britbrit

six track stream here http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/apr/26/marina-diamonds-electra-heart-review

Whole thing has actually leaked fwiw. It's way more polished and poppy than the first album, but that works to her advantage imo. Also, I think her singing is getting better.

electra heart is awesome, who knew

I went digging around the other day to see what she's up to. She's been keeping a super low profile for months, so there's an album being recorded I'd presume.

nothing rly against charli xcx but it saddens me that she got blanket coverage p much and her slightly more intellectual, tricksy m8 basically got ignored

this album repeats the debut's trick of sneaking up as it progresses, with an incredibly strong run of middle/end tracks

Something's happening today.

http://assets.atlanticrecords.co.uk/marinaandthediamonds/froot/email/2014-10-10/marina-froot-announce.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI_0HIz_4JY#t=304

huh, okay

this sounds like music go music! i.e. sounds like abba

After initially being struck a little dumb by this song, I've come around. Ambitious and slyly earwormy.

I like it when pop songs are three good pop songs

yeah this is rly rly good

yeah why am I playing this for the 5th time

maybe coz it's rly rly good. patiently waiting for ilx to dismiss it as too intricate, too contemptuous or w/e

Excited for the new stuff now
Still listen to Primadonna regularly, love that jam and they keep playing it at my local bowling alley so it can never go away ha

if the next album is on this scale then it'll be p much the pop event of the year (imo)

No album before early 2015 is what I'm reading, but maybe we'll get a second single before year's end.

listening back thru her back catalogue

she's truly incredible

http://i.imgur.com/CMVdSDm.png

Also? A video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZzcY7ASQno

not sure this is grabbing me yet. but optimistic for the rest.

guys

gonna stick my neck out and call this the most important british pop album since...fuck idk it's v v important tho

if the whole thing's got the scale & scope of the title track then my god are we in for it

i said that upthread

I'll need to hear more tracks before I buy the six different colors of "froots" wholesale.

I do like the title track MUCH MUCH more than I did the first time I played it, though.

Why does this come out 6 months from now when it already has a (presumably) finalized tracklist? And half the album will have been released by the time it actually comes out. An unusual strategy.

That's the iamamiwhoami model. Though how commercially viable that is remains to be seen (did "Kin" sell well once it eventually came out?).

the song is just so enormous and sad and epic

listened to her entire back catalogue on repeat tonight. growing convinced that she's the best current popstar. at least my personal favourite - the one i connect with the most. how many popstars write such brilliant hooks and lyrics basically all about depression & insecurity?

Froot just keeps improving for me on every listen (I really liked it first listen too :) )

aaand new track shared by popjustice
http://www.popjustice.com/songs/marina-the-diamonds-happy/

Oh my, as soon as the backing vocals came in, I was hooked.

"I'm a Ruin" was shared with people on the mailing list today. It's so good. My favorite of the FROOT tracks so far: http://youtu.be/H7z19xLjNXs

wow yeh sounds awesome
loving this pace

Why isn't she huge on ILX?

froot got 4 votes for the eoy poll :(
my #4 - still obsessed with it

Yeah, my #10. My question is, why the indifference?

she's a bit of a corny songwriter imo. newest song sounds ok though - the handclaps help

This is the first song of hers in a long while that reminds me why I originally liked her to begin with.

yeah "im a ruin" is really good. I loved the first album but I thought "Primadonna" was a pretty weak single and lost interest tbh.

Second album is really great imo, give it a try

"Froot" was #106 in the tracks poll & just missed my ballot. would have done better if it came out earlier imo

Immortal is gorgeous, love the slightly on the nose lyrics. Also she has got to be p much the most beautiful woman on the planet.

been listening to "i'm a ruin" on repeat, love the kate bushy heyaheys
video came out today too, giving me madonna-frozen vibes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDVC_pFMBMM

I love this song so much.

it sounds like something off Electra Heart

Nah, if anything it sounds like it would fit on The Family Jewels, but it's also kind of a new (okay, maybe not new, but more refined) look on her. Hope there's more of this on Froot.

i think because it has a similar line to one in 'power and control'

i think this might be the best song she's ever made

boring video tho

I'll always be a sucker for billowy clothes blowing in desert wind.

These lines kill me dead

And I've tried to say
Babe, I'm gonna ruin you if you let me stay
You still mean everything to me

The song seems to be doing really well on US iTunes which is kind of weird

I wonder where it's getting coverage. Not on any of the sites I read. And I can't imagine it's on radio playlists.

I wondered if it was on a Superbowl ad or something. She's got a large tumblr fanbase but I'd no idea it was this large.

she's a big hit on our local bowling alley music channels

Album apparently leaked a few days ago. I've been asleep at the wheel!

I didn't really have much interest in a new Marina album at the beginning of the year but after hearing I'm a Ruin I had to give it a go. The album is surprisingly great. It seems a little front loaded but I'm hoping the second half grows on me in time.

Apart from a few clumsy lyrics in "Can't Pin Me Down," I think it might be her strongest lp from beginning to end.

Easily my favourite so far. I didn't rate the second album at all.

I'm not feeling these new ones much yet. They mostly sound the same to me.

oh this gets really good in the second half

or maybe I was mostly thinking of the songs 'Gold' and 'Better Than That'

She's written the melody in 'Forget' at least twice before though (it feels)

the album is kinda boring to me but i still love "i'm a ruin"

Wonder if it's her formula that Track 9 on every album is more or less the best & darkest track, Track 2 the monster pop single and Track 12 the big sad late-album epic

awesomely consistent album imo
out of the tracks i hadn't heard already, really enjoying 'gold' and 'blue'
'froot' into 'i'm a ruin' is just such a strong run

A lot of people have pointed out the Teen Idle/Forget link:
https://soundcloud.com/leakedpop2/marina-the-diamonds-forget-teen-idle

I guess I'm disappointed with this album overall. I was one of the excited nerds who pre-ordered for my froot of the month (I will commend her on this strategy, if she'd just put up a stream I probably wouldn't have bought the thing) and after getting my hopes raised real, real, high with "Happy" and "Froot" what finally arrived was an AOR break-up record with characteristically drab videos, not mad Nintendo futurepop and gospel vibe ballads. It's probably her most consistent album but I don't see myself returning to it like I do her debut and some tracks of Electra Heart.

Also, how do people like "Gold". Did you guys also like "Florida Kilos" or what

late to the show, but really digging this. the front-end is super strong.

froot - i know i'm probably not the first to say, but getting mad kate bush vibes on this
i'm a ruin - i'll be damned if that isn't one of the best choruses / toplines i've heard all year, and it doesn't even need lyrics. just the yeayyeahs uh-huh. so good
blue - catchy as heck. hot damn when the chorus comes in that 2nd time. so delicious with the 'GIMMEs'

actually got kate bush vibes from i'm a ruin! but yeh i agree, this album is super good

Yeah, I'm still playing this a lot. Brilliant album.

Blue and I'm a Ruin should have both been huge hits by now.

very late to the show.

really like the drums on this album - esp on Forget but also on other tracks.

ONE OF US

new song just released with clean bandit, way to conflict an imago.

she's dead to me

This isn't terrible.

Also, Róisín Murphy did a lot of dayplayer work like this before coming back with some super strong work of her own, so we'll see.

she's dating one of clean bandit iirc

and yeah I think this song is kinda old also? Like wasn't it being performed live ~2 years ago?

She's officially dropped "And The Diamonds" from the name, and I'm feeling a type of way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTez3e69Srk

It's a nice song. Is it a nice Marina song? I'm unsure yet. It has no edges.

I enjoyed the verses more than the chorus which seems a bit uneventful. It is beautifully produced. Could well grow on me like most of the last album did.

This is great! But she sings the title too much. That's the only flaw

haha I tend to hate that in songs

charming little track

The album is called Love & Fear and it's split into two 8-song halves. Fair enough. A sixteen song album will undoubtedly be too much album, especially when one of the tracks on "Love" is that fucking Clean Bandit song which is literal padding.

lol I didn't even bother reviving the thread for this last song, but here's the next one. Every one is lamer than the last.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYKaBHbTuvQ

I was really looking forward to this album after how much I loved Froot but these songs aren't really doing it for me at all. She sounds so bored.

iirc she went to university after the Froot tour ended and now she's in her mature period, but it really sounds like she's just attempting to get on the radio.

So, she just released the first half of the album (Love) a few weeks early. It's really not very good at all. So sad to hear her phoning it in over these generic songs.

Yeah, I can't even be bothered to listen to it based on what I've heard so far. If someone discovers a really good song, let me know.

Now Fear is out as well, I really can't remember the last time an artist lost just about everything that made them interesting in such a drastic way. I mean, that CHVRCHES album last year was a big step down from the previous one, but I never liked them as much as I liked Marina during the Froot era. That was such a strong album full of her character and great distinctive songwriting. Love & Fear has none of that. Just an endless run of bland trend-chasing mid tempo Spotify pop. Some really shocking lyrics too. She has absolutely nothing to say. So depressing that she's been talking about how this album is supposed to be close to the real her. In that way it's her Britney Jean!

it's still kinda wild to me that she went to university to study psychology in between album cycles and she came out of it with a song where the hook is "sit back and enjoy your problems, you don't always have to solve them, 'cause your worst days, they are over, so enjoy your life"

like..."ignore your problems, and just be happy!" seems like such bad advice particularly from someone so allegedly enlightened!

A psychology degree isn't about how to solve your happiness problems
It doesn't help you 'read minds' either :)

"I really can't remember the last time an artist lost just about everything that made them interesting"

Not that it was interesting to start with, but this is as drastic a shift as when Michael Bolton went from aping KISS to making adult contemporary gloop. Worked well for his bottom line, though, so we'll see if she's on to something.

this is an awfully long album considering how fucking boring it is.

"orange trees" is on repeat as hold music for a clothes retailer and it is very boring
I thought it sounded like Marina but didn't really believe something of hers would be so very dull

New single!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obxFWNeGDOg

an improvement, at least

It's a bit on the nose but sounds like a return to form to me

yeah i tuned out the lyrics. the music is a step up from whatever nonsense she was putting out last time

Read a brief interview with her that says she's once again doing what she wants rather than being handled by a team. That last album sounded focus grouped into the ground, and she knows it.

On board with the overall sentiment here. I'm not sold on the song, but it's definitely a move in the right direction. I'm hoping there are more upcoming singles, or even an album soon.

Always find it astonishing, given how I regarded them ten years ago, that Charli would end up winning this one

lol @ "the planet has a funny way of stopping a fight"

great tune this

this new song is not good

by which I mean this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5u3kP85LYI

it's actually better than I was expecting! Sounds more like the earlier stuff, well at least a little bit. Can't bear the lyrics.

the lyrics are the problem, good god I did not want serious quarantine references from Marina

musically it's more engaging than the last album, I'll give it that.

Yesterday on twitter she made a post with the album cover and release date and one reply said FINALLY YOUR FIRST NEW ALBUM IN SIX YEARS and all the weird stans who for some reason give Love & Fear a pass got furious.

I like this song a lot btw, lyrics and all. She's got a very singular way of writing a song. I'd never mistake anything from albums 1, 2, 3 and (what I've heard from) 5 for anyone else.

She tweeted about being on a podcast talking to a psychologist about fandoms/standoms because I think she wants to make sense of the weirdness of it. I'm listening to it now, but I haven't gotten into the meat of it yet. However, you look at the replies to her tweet and there are a thousand people saying "yasssss drag us to hell queeeeeeeen."

I'd fucking quit if I somehow attracted these motherfuckers.

Oh hey this album's actually pretty good!

Got about half way through and decided to pre-order the vinyl...which doesn't ship until February of 2022 lol so that'll be a nice surprise because I will absolutely have forgotten I did that.

yeah on second song and this is better than I expected. Rubbish album cover and aesthetic though; and I'm still going to skip that song I hated when it comes up. But in general this is more like the albums before Love and Fear.

However, you look at the replies to her tweet and there are a thousand people saying "yasssss drag us to hell queeeeeeeen."

I'd fucking quit if I somehow attracted these motherfuckers.

This reminds me, what the fuck is this shit: "xxxx it's a cultural reset, a reason to breathe, and an escape from this cruel world blah blah blah" that is incessantly copypasted into 80% of replies to any tweet by any female musical artist? Fuck I hate fans, twitter and the entire world.

Nothing of note, but I've watched a couple of her instagram clips from the current tour and damn she's a fully formed rock star at this point.