2012 In Preview: Marina And The Diamonds

Over the next few days we’ll be looking at what’s to come in the year ahead, and picking out some of the releases we’re most looking forward to hearing over the coming months.

I’ll admit it. The first time I came across Marina Diamandis I was not impressed. Catching her live on the autumn 2009 NME Radar tour, I found her performance underwhelming, and I came out of the gig with no idea of the sheer pop perfection she was capable of creating. I have fellow AGCSer Greg to thank for persuading me to give Marina and the Diamonds another shot, through the simple fact that he just would not shut up about how great she was. Eventually repeat listens of the likes of Are You Satisfied, Oh No!, The Outsider, and Hollywood brought me round to the same conclusion; Marina was awesome! As such, we at AGCS can’t wait to hear her next project, which sees Marina transform herself into a vacuous pop star called “Electra Heart”. It looks set to be an interesting ride.

While the specifics of the “Electra Heart” project have yet to be announced, Marina has released a few teasers already, with the atmospheric, pared back Fear And Loathing (above) and the euphoric euro-dance of Radioactive forming Parts One & Two of the Electra Heart story. The two tracks (And the latter especially) signal a change in direction for Marina, a more towards writing more streamlined pop songs. Things are complicated, however, by Part Three in the Electra Heart video series, entitled The Archetypes (below), which shows that despite the polished pop of Radioactive Marina’s still maintained that weirdness which made her so interesting in the first place.

Viewed together, these three clips suggest that Marina’s next release is set to be very interesting indeed. If the rest of “Electra Heart” maintains the standard of these three tracks though we’re sure to enjoy it just as much as her debut, if not even more.

THE DEETS:

Album Title: “Electra Heart”

Release Date: TBC

Likelihood: High