'I'm the Anti-Adele': Forget lovelorn ballads, Marina & The Diamonds' second album is full of spiky pop inspired by failed romance
Perched on a sofa in an upmarket London hotel, the demure Marina Diamandis doesn’t look much like a prima donna, a home-wrecker or, heaven forbid, a bubblegum b*tch.
Her appearance is feminine, and she certainly looks a lot less daunting than the quirkily-dressed pop siren who emerged in 2010. Dressed head to toe in pastel pinks, her look is topped off by blonde, prom-queen curls and a bow-tied headband. There is a small heart painted on her left cheek.
But Diamandis is nothing if not perplexing. She is a solo act who performs as Marina & The Diamonds. And, on her new album, Electra Heart, she is indeed a Primadonna, a Homewrecker and, yes, a Bubblegum b*tch. Those are three of her new songs. Others include Fear And Loathing and Living Dead.
So why is a nice, middle-class girl from Abergavenny — she went to the exclusive Haberdashers’ Monmouth School on an assisted place — acting so mean and nasty? After all, Marina once aspired to be the new Britney Spears (the goody-two-shoes early model — not the crazy later incarnation). She auditioned for The Lion King and even subscribed to entertainment bible The Stage because it was the magazine that launched The Spice Girls.
Her change of heart can be traced back to a broken romance. Last year, the half-Welsh, half-Greek singer-songwriter parted company with a boyfriend — ‘a good guy, not somebody who is in the music industry, but the wrong person for me’ — and the fallout inspired an album.
‘I’m putting on an aggressive front to hide my true feelings, but I’d hate guys to think I was intimidating,’ she says, adding to my confusion. ‘On my new songs, I wanted to flick the situation around. I didn’t want to come across as a victim. I’m not a b*tch, but I wanted to expose that side of my character. I wanted to address the things that women don’t usually talk about. Nobody will admit to playing power games in relationships, but they do.’
Marina nods when I suggest she could be the Anti-Adele. ‘That’s hit the nail on the head,’ she says. ‘When you mention heartbreak songs, people think of Adele singing Someone Like You. Her album, 21, was a brilliant break-up record. Mine’s an ode to dysfunctional love. I wanted to create a cold, ruthless character who wasn’t vulnerable.’
At 26, Diamandis is primed to leap into pop’s major league. Her eclectic debut album, The Family Jewels, was a modest success two years ago. Electra Heart is bolder. Made with U.S. producers Dr Luke (Katy Perry) and Greg Kurstin (Lily Allen), its mid-tempo ballads and Euro-disco stomps are brash. On the back of their success last year with Ed Sheeran, the singer’s label, Atlantic, have made her a top priority.
She says: ‘My first album wasn’t a flop, but it wasn’t a wild success. This one is more assured, and I feel it will come to define my career. I’ve always been honest about my ambitions. There’s no shame in that. You need a certain level of narcissism to do this job. I’m also at a weird age. At 26, you have to wave goodbye to youth and become an adult. One of the reasons my image is more feminine is because this is my last chance to look young. I’m also at an age where a lot of artists have really broken through. Madonna was 26 when she made Like A Virgin.’
The encyclopedic knowledge of Madonna’s past is revealing. ‘I’ve read every Madonna biography,’ she says. ‘I’ve also looked up every pop star to see how they first made it. The biggest thing I learnt was that you have to be pro-active. You can’t be scared.’
The daughter of a Greek father and Welsh mother, her childhood was ‘simple and idyllic’, although her outlook changed after she won her place at Haberdashers’.
‘It was a good school, but I stuck out because we weren’t a rich family. We lived in a bungalow and I shared a bedroom with my sister. As soon as I got there, I felt there was a divide. But it was nice until the final year, when your looks suddenly became very important.’
After living with her father in Greece for two years — her parents divorced when she was four — she returned to the UK ‘delusional with drive’ and desperate to start a music career. Writing songs on an Argos keyboard, she released two singles before securing a deal with Atlantic offshoot 679 Records. Within months, she was tipped as the face of 2010.
Now, as she prepares to launch her new album and tour, Marina has tempered her ambitions with a sense of perspective. Oddly enough, it could be that which finally makes her a star. ‘I realise success in pop can be fleeting. I wanted it so much with my first record, but it’s not such an issue now. If this album does well, I’ll be happy, but I’m not going to let it define me.’
The single Primadonna is out on April 16. Marina’s album Electra Heart follows on April 30 and her tour starts on May 3.
i love Marina
