A new British pop sensation arrives Stateside.
Marina Diamandis, a.k.a. the U.K.-based pop songstress Marina & the Diamonds, may be climbing the British charts, but her real ambition has always been to come to America. “You can hope and dream and plan for something,” she said after playing her show at Le Poisson Rouge in New York in March, “but having it actually happen is a very different thing.” With her revealing approach to songwriting (“in my songs I analyze and critique everything, I think”), infectious pop hooks, and theatrical voice, the 24-year-old singer-songwriter has been drawing comparisons to Kate Bush, Tori Amos, and glam-pop innovators Sparks—not least for her live show, which sparkles with the same intensity as her music. Marina’s collection of glittery stage costumes comes from a diverse group of London-based student designers (among them Laura Mackness, Emma Bell, and Hasan Hejazi) as well DIY labels such as I Dream of Wires, who made her a pair of flamboyant “vintage cartoon-print dungarees” for her current tour.
In January, Marina was voted second in the BBC Sound Poll, the U.K. music industry’s most reliable barometer for measuring new talent (past nominees have included 50 Cent, Lady Gaga, and Vampire Weekend), and in March her debut album, The Family Jewels, which has just been released here, entered the U.K. album charts at No. 5. “It’s really encouraging in England,” she says, “but I have a real pull towards America.” This is abundantly clear from her music. The anthemic “Hollywood” is a reluctant love letter to the American Dream, brought to life by lyrics like “You wanted kissing in the rain/Living in a movie scene...I’m obsessed with the mess that’s America.” Above all, she wants her music to translate: “As an artist, it’s really important to feel that my music travels everywhere.”