With Electra Heart, Marina and the Diamonds’ second record, her fascination with female identity and the American Dream – which were explored on her debut album – return to be studied in even more depth. Electra Heart is a character – not an alter-ego as such, according to Marina, but more the American Dream, personified. In theory it’s a concept record, exploring female archetypes. Marina has also said the album is “an ode to dysfunctional love”, adding that “it was a way of dealing with the embarrassment that, for the first time in my life, I got...
Earlier this week, I came across the above quote from Jack White about music – that it is just not that interesting unless there is a woman involved. This statement was made a few years ago, and whilst I have heard of it before, I had never really thought about what it truly meant. At face value, the statement is clearly complimentary, indicating that female involvement in music, and especially the indie, bluesy, rock-y music that Jack White creates, makes the whole package different and interesting. White quite astutely summarised an unwritten rule within the music scene – that having a...
All these artists released their debut albums this year and have enjoyed growing success throughout 2010. These are my stand-out new artists of 2010.
There have been so many burgeoning female solo acts over the past couple of years; it could be easy to over-look Marina and the Diamonds as just another quirky female pop act. To do this though would be a huge mistake. Marina has been one of my stand out acts of the year because she really does offer a perfect pop package, but with an awful lot of substance. Marina looks the absolute figure of beauty, and she packages herself in the most...
The Family Jewels is one of those albums that feminists would have a field day with. Marina Lambrini Diamandis, better known as Marina and the Diamonds jumps from one minute professing in an up tempo chorus that ‘I fall asleep, when they speak of the calories they eat’ (Girls) to an intricate bridge, exploring the complexities of cracker buying in Obsessions. This dichotomy seems to weave throughout the album, especially in Oh No! which switches from self assured lyrics, to troubled refrains, in a matter of seconds. Nevertheless, despite its oxymoronic nature, the album is power pop...
