If Marina Diamandas’ career were a huge old fashioned pirate ship, she’d be tearing toward the mythic brink of the ocean, where the water gushes off into the cosmic void of the universe. An all consuming void of endless possibility, one where mere mortals can touch the stars… and become them.
And she’d be laughing, all the while wearing Vivienne Westwood’s Pirate collection circa 1980s. Yes, her career is on the brink of intergalactic success. And if you haven’t heard of Marina & The Diamonds, you very soon will.
Her sound is a pastiche of every power woman of pop from the ’80s. She’s part Nina Hagen, a touch of Kate Bush and a whole lot of Siouxsie Sioux from Siouxsie and the Banshees. Yet she looks like Audrey Tautou and Catherine Zeta Jones gene spliced and had a lovechild together.
‘I don’t focus on them because they are artists who have built huge careers and I’m right at the beginning,’ explained Diamandis when asked how she felt being compared to such amazing women.
‘I focus more on the fact that people don’t seem to be able to categorise me and I quite like that- I think it’s very justified because I literally had no interest in music, my whole life.
‘Obviously I have my favourites now because being in this industry you do listen to people eventually, but I grew up very much quite a blank slate culturally and artistically and it was more like an internal drive to do this and a real need to express myself and express the thoughts that I had about the world. It’s flattering to a certain degree but it’s not like I take it too seriously. I want to create my own sound.’
It’s a sound that is very now. It’s edgy and heartfelt yet total quirk, filled with fantastically written lyrics and the odd outburst or bizarre bird call. It’s polished, yes, but none of the human edge has been rubbed out. Instead, it retains some wonderfully sharp jagged edges of human experience.
‘I think I would probably say (my sound is) experimental pop because I recognise that unintentionally, there are big pop moments in the writing style, I suppose, but then I don’t think I’ve got that much of a commercial vocal.
‘I like to push myself to do different things because it’s scary and I don’t want to be scared, I want to be quite a fearless artist. I hope that’s an accurate description of my music.’
There’s a now famous quote from Diamandis, paraphrased here, that she was largely naïve on how to put together a song, that she went with what she was feeling, that she wasn’t even aware of what a chorus was but just knew when a song needed a lift in it. It’s a process she still tries to retain and remain true to.
‘It’s a little bit more influenced, just because when people start analysing your work, you obviously start looking at it more than you probably should anyway. Also because I did four co-writes on the album, I was with people and they would kind of share tips on how they wrote and I’d be like “God, this is sometimes quite a calculated process,†which I really didn’t like.
‘I don’t want to be a songwriter who writes to a brief. So I’m kind of ignoring all that and going along with my original message which is just to tell a story. I don’t feel like I’ve changed at all in my writing.’
And with such phenomenal songs like Hollywood, Obsessions and Oh No off her debut album The Family Jewels, who would change their style? Of course it’s the opening ‘cuckoo’ and ‘y-e-s to everything’ from Mogwli Road that has fans crooning for Marina & The Diamonds. It’s a favourite on Triple J and with just cause – it’s infectious.
For Diamandis, her ship’s helm is firmly set toward the second star on the left, the one which grants all your wishes. To say she’s obsessed with making music and being known for it is an understatement. It’s an unyielding drive that makes her a poster pin up child for her generation – Gen Y – albeit in more ways than one, as Diamandis revealed.
‘I feel I represent the bad part of (my generation) which is I suppose being someone of average intelligence who doesn’t really know enough about history or politics which are two really important things in this world.
‘I also have a very short attention span and I’m more interested in things that are distracting us all… and I think I’m changing because I really don’t want to be like that. I want to live in a much more old fashioned way but I think I’m a symptom of how technology has advanced and shaped my generation and my culture.’
It’s good to know then that despite the ADD tendencies, it’s still a generation dedicated to making damn fine music, one who’s setting sail for the stars – literally.
Marina & The Diamonds’ debut album The Family Jewels is available now through Warner Music.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
