A Change Of Heart

Marina And The Diamonds‘ slightly constipated warble has been ringing in my ears for a while now; let’s just say that, whilst many have allowed a hype-shaped heart to enamour them, I’ve never really been convinced that there’s anything that special about her. Her single ‘I Am Not A Robot’ irritated me a tiny bit – I thought it seemed a little too earnest and I couldn’t see anything unique about it, the moments of Kate Nash-like quaintness putting me off. In summary: I didn’t get it. At all.

That is, until the surreal echoing sounds of her new single resonated from the radio; ‘Mowgli’s Road’ is a fantastic pop song that shows a level of intricacy that a lot of other electro wannabe-stars just don’t possess. I mean, I don’t even think Marina really is an ‘electro star’, she’s just a kooky little creature making fun melodies.
Not to mention making fun videos too:

It’s a video reminiscent of Supergrass’ ‘Pumping Your Stereo’, her bouncy wiggly crimped paper legs jolting around and her human head intact. It’s brilliant, clean, colourful and aptly odd for this song – a pop star dancing and looking really beautiful but with an odd distortion, much like her own approach to music, superficially clean and shiny but running throughout a ripple of complexity and ingenuity. Although she sites Brody Dalle as one of her main influences, the singer is the absolute amalgamation of Kate Bush and Imogen Heap. There’s even a sense that, in 2009′s flash-in-the-pan pop landscape, Marina might have some real substance up her sleeves

I hope that she carries on in this weird-pop cuckooing vein - I love female vocalists who do animal impressions; Karen O on the new Flaming Lips album, PJ Harvey barking away on ‘A Woman, A Man Walked By’, Kate Bush on ‘Aerial’, ‘(How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window?’ by, err, Lita Roza. Maybe that’s another blog altogether, but to conclude this one; look out for Marina & The Diamonds - she’s definitely an interesting act to watch.