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CMU Playlists
Playlist: Marina And The Diamonds
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 5 April 2012
Singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis, the Marina in Marina And The Diamonds (The Diamonds being her fans, rather than a backing band), released her debut album, ‘The Family Jewels’, in 2010, hot on the heels of having come second in that year’s BBC Sound Of poll and gaining a nomination for the BRITS Critics Choice award.
This month, she returns with album number two, ‘Electra Heart’, due for release on 30 Apr, which will be preceded by the single ‘Primadonna’ next week. Then beginning next month she’ll head out on a UK tour before beginning a summer-long stint supporting Coldplay on their European trek.
Speaking about the new album, Marina said: “It’s an ode to dysfunctional love. I based the project around character types commonly found in love stories, film and theatre, usually ones associated with power and control in love, as opposed to weakness or defeat. I guess it was a way of dealing with the embarrassment that, for the first time in my life, I got ‘played’. Rejection is a universally embarrassing topic and ‘Electra Heart’ is my response to that. It is a frank album”.
Some of those same themes come across in her CMU playlist, which you can check out below.
MARINA’S TEN
Click here to listen to Marina’s playlist in Spotify, and then read on to find out more about her choices.
01 Daniel Johnston – Walking The Cow
A naive, sweet melody travels throughout the song. A piece of gold from a DIY genius.
02 Ricky Martin with Christina Aguilera – Nobody Wants To Be Lonely
I used to listen to this when I was a young teen and sing it to myself dramatically in the mirror. Nice.
03 Skeeter Davis – The End Of The World
This is the most depressing song ever and I would play it if I ever wanted to commit suicide, like in ‘Girl, Interrupted’.
04 Gwen Stefani – Bubble Pop Electric
I bought her solo album recently out of interest. This is one of the best songs off it. I was drawn to it because it had “bubble” AND “pop” in the title.
05 UTRB – Pressure
A fresh, brand new act from Wales. He is totally amazing. I want to marry his songs. [Free download here]
06 Britney Spears – Email My Heart
My main inspiration when it comes to popular culture is Britney Spears. I have always loved her and enjoyed the innocent hyper-girly element in her image. I think people believe my admiration of her is ironic or something. I don’t know why you can’t just love big pop artists without it having some kind of ironic eye roll involved. ‘Email My Heart’ is very 1999 and it is on my pre-show soundtrack for the ‘Lonely Hearts Club’ tour.
07 The Pierces – Glorious
A really classic song. It is rare that songs which reference another era actually manage to not end up sounding pastiche. The whole Pierces album is great, actually.
08 Talk Talk – It’s My Life
Anthemic, timeless etc etc.
09 St Vincent – Now, Now
Layered, textured production. Angelic voice. Love her.
10 The Supremes – Baby Love
Sad themes set to happy music. My favourite combination.
