Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend

Okay, with heading like that it makes me seem a little obsessed perhaps about this musician. However,  I just appreciate diverse and good music. And Welsh singer Marina and the Diamonds ticks both of those boxes.

I first heard/saw Marina Lambrini Diamandis perform on a British chat show and at first, I didn't really think she was anything that special. The song that she was performing was "Primadonna", promoting it as a single off of her second album Electra Heart (which was released in April 2012). And it was when she was just standing there, well sitting actually, not doing anything, just looking posed and perfected by what I can only assume is a mass of hair and make-up experts, that I didn't think much of her. Actually, I thought she was just another American artist set to dominate our ears with auto-tune and screeching lyrics subtly disguised as prayers to God/our ex-boyfriend/President Obama.

At the end of the song, however, I knew that I was going to buy her second album when it came out, maybe her first one as well, if not a couple of her songs. Her voice is in no way stereotypical, no way cliche American. It has this way of being both pop and operatically influenced. There are subtle ways in which the lyrics and notes are pronounced and sung where you can definitely see a upbeat feel behind them. And the same goes for the tracks themselves. Some are definitely meant to be danced to, some to make you think, and then there are just some in between.

Of both the albums, The Family Jewels and Electra Heart, I would have to say that Electra Heart is my favourite. It just feels like in this album, Marina has had more time to refine that line between being pop and being ballad/operatic. A lot of the songs in the first album are more a mix of both, where you can't really determine if you're meant to be hardcore dancing or just sitting there quietly contemplating the meaning of your fruitful existence.

From Electra Heart, my favourite songs (yes, there's more than one) are the two that best represent the combining influences of Marina's music. The first, Bubblegum Bitch, just makes me want to run/dance/throw my hands in the air and scream. It's a fantastic song for going to the gym. It's motivational and the lyrics are very clever, talking about a girl being sexually evocative towards a boy. And as the first track on the album it introduces you (literally) to the concept that is Marina's second album.

My second favourite song is Buy The Stars. As a slower song, it's cute and makes you think, but not too strenuously. It's definitely more operatic and haunting than perhaps any of the other songs on the album. It's the last track on the album and makes for a good send off. It's kind of like, after listening to all the songs on the album, this track makes you reflect on all those songs, your reaction to them and what message you think Marina and her songs are trying to send to you. Just a really nice, resolute way of ending a great album.

Image 1 available: http://www.marinaandthediamonds.com/news,preorder-electra-heart_264.htm 
Image 2 available: http://mavenity.wordpress.com/2010/08/26/must-listen-marina-and-the-diamonds-the-family-jewels/