The Family Jewels - Marina and The Diamonds

I'm really pissed off that I lost my post but I'll start again...

I've been wanting to write about her for a while. She was my (not really mine, a friend "introduced" her to me) great musical find of 2009. Her debut album, "The Family Jewels" was just released and I'm reviewing it now.

Marina Diamondis is Welsh singer and songwriter with Greek ancestry, her cogname comes not only from her last name, which means diamonds in Greek, but it also is a cute nickname to her fans. Owner of a deep voice, she's capable to change from deep notes to the higher ones within seconds. Her lyrics, wrote by herself, what is rare in pop world nowadays, are pretty much about her own experiences and her own toughts. The reason I liked her so much: her voice is almost is hypnotic (it changes so much during the songs, I love that) and her lyrics seem to be talking to me (Yes, identification is a primary criteria for me to like something) but, they are not empty and they have a tone of critic to some standarts.

The album starts with "Are You Satisfied",which is basically her introducing herself, with funny synthesizer the lyrics are about stardom and ambition. "Shampain" has an eletronic beat and is dancing. "I'm not a Robot" is sutil, meaningful and sensitive, maybe the highest point of the album. Is about frailty, and most of all accepting your own frailty. The video is really something, totally David Bowie in the Ziggy age. With "Girls" the album starts to sound more pop, but the lyrics aren't that pop, one funny line is about chick lit writers. "Mowgli's Road" is totally senseless and I love it! It has something of Kate Bush and the video is completely bizarre. "Obsessions" is my top favorite. I've been listening it almost everyday since I heard it for the first time. It's piano is sublime and her voice is amazing. "Hollywood" was the first single, it's probably the "most pop" song of the album. It's chorus get stucked inside your head but it's not all that bad. The album does not end gloriously but these tunes I talked about and some others from her EPs (like "Simplify") are amazing. Her voice is unique, I love the way she plays with it and all the weirdness all around.

But Marina has a serious problem: she is (using her own words) too indie for pop and too pop for indie. She sounds pop but her lyrics are "indie". Soon enough believe she'll have to choose her path in her career and I really hope she doesn't go to the pop side of the force. Untill there, she's a nice voice to hear.

More of Marina you can find on her official website. I like reading her blog, it's really personal, without being cheesy. Strong opinions, dilemas, news and photography, always a good reading. (For celebrities personal blogs, I mean)


Enjoy Marina's "Ziggy Video" I'm not a Robot, but please, listen to my fave song, Obsessions.





Update on me:
It took me ages to write something. This post was actually ready but I lost it while I was trying to publish it. I've been working a lot and studyin like crazy. But I alredy signed my diploma mirror and that means that the end is near... FINALLY!