Electra Heart [CD]

As someone who has rather "alternative" taste in female musicians (Björk, Kate Bush, PJ Harvey, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Regina Spektor, etc), when I first heard "The Family Jewels" back in 2010 I was totally obsessed. The quirky welsh girl who wrote and composed her own songs on her cheap keyboard that she bought from Argos totally captured my imagination and became one of my favourite artists. Her music was the perfect combination of "indie" and pop - and it was a relief to actually have an album of fun pop music that actually had some credibility. It was some of the most beautiful pop music I had ever heard.

In 2011 she surprised us all by releasing the very commercially influenced "Radioactive", and I became rather worried about this next album. When "Primadonna" came out I was relieved. Yes, it was sugary bubblegum pop, but Marina's voice sounded amazing and her pretty quirkiness was back and actually sounded really cool surrounded by the commercial but well produced beats courtesy of Dr Luke. I resisted the urge to write a review straight away, as many other reviewers have, as I wanted to live with the album for a while and know how I felt about it.

The album starts with "Bubblegum Bitch", which sounds like a song from the opening credits from a 90's American teen chick film ("Clueless" springs to mind for me). "Lies" and "Starring Role" are both very currently commercial in their sound, but Marina's lyrics and genuine sounding vocal delivery rescue them from being total sell-outs.

"The State Of Dreaming" starts out sounding like its title - dreamy, ethereal and beautiful, and suddenly explodes into a very poppy, sweet but catchy chorus. "Power and Control" and "Living Dead" use powerful 80's sounding beats and epic choruses and work very well.

A few reviewers have said the second half of the album gets a bit dull, but I think it's where the album really turns into a better, more satisfying direction. "Teen Idle" is atmospheric, dark, and beautifully layered. Those who loved "I Am Not A Robot" and "Numb" from the previous album will be relieved to know that Marina hasn't lost her touch for writing beautiful melancholic pop songs. The lyrics (about a suicidal teenager who wishes she were popular) and production make it quite a dark song, so it's interesting to hear cheerleader chants being used in such an interesting, creative, and actually quite beautiful way - almost as if their presence depresses the "character" singing the song and actually cheer on the fact that she is suicidal.

The final four tracks on the special edition are really good. "Radioactive" sounds really good in context with the rest of the album. "Buy the Stars" is classic Marina - it sounds like "Obsessions" but is actually far more beautiful; silly not be included in the album, but perhaps too similar in style to "The Family Jewels" to be officially included.

What makes this album stand out is Marina's unique vocals, lyrics and melodies, and even the production has a unique edge to it - chirping birds, deep bass lines, and strange electronic effects. It's an interesting mix of sweet and sugary combined with dark melancholia, conjuring up images of Barbie (or some other high profile names in the pop world) on a hangover from alcohol and illegal substances and re-evaluating whether the "glamorous" and pretentious life and relationships she's created for herself are actually making her happy.

There's a lot being said about this album being Marina "selling-out" - do I think it's true? No! The lyrics and vocals sound genuine and are beautifully performed. The songs themselves are wonderfully written - Marina is a wonderfully gifted and clever song writer. This may be a pop album, but it's full of well written songs and lyrical substance to back it up. It may not be the experimental masterpiece that "The Family Jewels" was, but it's a wonderfully melancholic pop album from a wonderful, genuine, and honest artist nonetheless.

When I first heard Radioactive by Marina and the Diamonds in 2011, I'll admit that I didn't originally like it. I liked Marina's first album, The Family Jewels, and enjoyed how different it was to the usual songs in the chart. Hearing Radioactive originally made me feel that Marina was going in the wrong direction - into the electronic, dance genre. I do enjoy listening to that kind of music, being a big fan of Ke$ha, but I disliked how she was changing her music. On a whim, though, I decided to purchase this album.

I regret my original thoughts.

This album is surprisingly extremely good. The songs are extremely catchy, and not entirely electronic-dance style. Here's what I think of each track:

BUBBLEGUM BITCH
This is a really catchy, self-centred song (in a good way!). In this, Electra Heart (Marina's not-alter-ego-but-really-is) is saying how she is "miss sugar pink, liquor liquour lips" and how she will "pop your bubblegum heart". This is probably one of my favourite tracks.

PRIMADONNA
The song reminds me of Hollywood from her first album. It's about being materialistic, and just wanting fame and glory. It's one of the more electronic songs.

LIES
In this song, Electra is stating how a boy and her should lie and pretend about being a good couple. They are very dysfunctional as a couple, but she is still asking him to stay, as she 'want[s] it to be perfect'. One of the darker songs.

HOMEWRECKER
Different to her usual songs, in this, Electra talks about how she 'breaks a million hearts just for fun.' It is highly catchy, and includes speech as well as singing.

STARRING ROLE
Similar to Primadonna, this is talking more about how she feels as if she is in a movie with her boyfriend. However, she mentions how she'd rather 'walk alone/than play a supporting role/if I can't get the starring role." It's not as catchy as the other songs.

POWER & CONTROL
This song is, clearly, about the dominance in a relationship. Both Electra Heart and her boyfriend are struggling to gain power in the relationship, with Electra assuring him that she will 'make him fall'. She refers to how 'love will always be a game'. It's quite a pro-female song.

TEEN IDLE
Ahh. This songs is probably the darkest on the album. It is about a teenage girl (Electra?) who is desperate for popularity, and is reflecting on the 'wasted years' whilst feelin 'super, super suicidal'. It is more like the songs from Family Jewels. I really like this song.

HYPOCRATES
Similar to 'Are You Satisfied?' on TFJ, this song is saying how wrong it is for somebody to be judging Electra, and questioning 'Who are you to tell me....who to be?" I think that this is a song aimed at Hollywood in general, after Electra fails to be the 'American Dream'.

I have yet to properly hear THE STATE OF DREAMING, LIVING DEAD, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and FEAR AND LOATHING. I'll review them when I listen to the tracks properly.

Overall, even though this is darker and different to TFJ, I really enjoy listening to the tracks on this. ;)

Marina's first album is one that I've listened to a 100 times over and was my summer album when it first came out. This one is very different but just as good.

Every song is good in it's own way. Highlighting her beautiful and unique voice and talent. I highly recommend this album, it has a great mix of tracks and showcases the new direction that she is taking that I think is a good one. After all, it is good when artists start to do new things. If it was a carbon copy of her last album It would be boring.