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 favorite 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.
This pathos of a feline journey woman is how perceive the musical tale of Obscura is all about. She is the girl who wants to severely fit in an unattainable superficial world masked with demons only heightened by the grandeur of a David and Goliath fight. This fight is the struggle for recognition in the absence of anonymity.
Marina operatically performs the role of the siren, the dying star, dwarfed by the insecurities of the men she incites. She is the fever dream that has reached a pitch of despair. She brings forth that need Gemma pleads with. A need to be the love and star in her husband’s life and not a supporting character that muses his slipping sanity. This film needs a musician that can tackle the societal issues that plague the hearts of these characters. The feel like dolls with no personality but the ones written and directed for them to perform.
Excellent beats along with snippy, dark-pop, introspective lyrics will be the collaborative force that rings this movie into shape. Her ability to write creative lyrics is her biggest strength as an artist. She can design for this movie a soundtrack that stands very well on its own.. I think with this album she could do reach pop’s leading lady status that in the most ironic way. Her voice has a unique overall sound and I’d be interested to see what she uses in her music.
HOLLYWOOD- DIRECTED BY KINGA BURZA
FROOT- DIRECTED BY
ELECTRA HEART
FROOT
Obscura 