#249 — Marina and The Diamonds — Electra Heart (2012)
A sophomore to adore.
It’s fortunate, I guess, that I have at least heard of the first two artists on this list. Marina Diamandis, known since 2018 as MARINA, is a Welsh songwriter with an impressive vocal range and ability to craft a pop hit.
So here’s Electra Heart, a concept album with Marina’s Electra singing coldly of heartbreak, vacuous loss of identity in the pursuit of fame and the numbness of society. At least, that’s what I think is going on here.
When I say cold, this is all performance. The age of men was over by 2012 and the Gagas, the Del Rays and the Adeles were very much in charge of pop music. It’s femme fatale nostalgia for an unspecified mid-20th century aesthetic, paired with modern production values.
What marks Marina out is her vocal range and performance. She’s not fucking around with operatic swoops, spoken word and confessional emotion throughout.
While the opener Bubblegum Bitch is a straight-faced introduction to the Electra Heart character, second track Primadonna Girl could have featured on Marina’s first album The Family Jewels, while closer How To Be A Heartbreaker sounds eerily like an ancestor of Dua Lipa’s New Rules.
The production here really has that 2010’s EDM influence throughout. Marina’s vocals don’t need it but there’s a lot of build towards synth drops and the sort of big pop dance sound. That some of these songs are also emotionally wrought examinations of womanhood sometimes brings to mind a dancefloor filled with the saddest girls you’ve ever met.
Then about five tracks in, on the second listen, came Starring Role. Then this album clicked into focus. Marina would have delivered the perfect Bond theme for Gillian Anderson cast as Jane Bond in the middle of this decade.
It’s not the only surprise lurking in here, because later on arrives Hypocrates — a track which doesn’t fit on this album, but sounds like it fell through a wormhole from 1995. It sounds like a Corrs record, or something from Sheryl Crow. That’s not a criticism. I’ve always liked Marina’s odder stuff — check out Obsessions on her first album, it’s probably the spiritual twin of this track.
Marina and The Diamonds — Electra Heart — 2012
Best track: Primadonna Girl. It shows off what this album’s about, marrying her vocal style with a harder dance edge. It’s cocky, self-assured and works.
Underrated banger: Hypocrates. Just because compared to every other track on the album it’s so very different and relies on Marina’s voice rather than the backing production.
You can find most of MARINA’s work here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO_hWjivU900eBRkSQNtlAw
