Sparkling Diamonds

If you haven't already heard of Marina and the Diamonds, the Welsh-Greek (I never use the word) singing sensation, you're about to. If you already are a Diamond disciple, high five.

Marina Diamandis has an amazing range that dips down into warbling guttural bellows and soars to falsetto boasts, an ear for hipness, and (most importantly) a lot to say. I have been impressed with every single song on her album The Family Jewels, but I will go in depth on a few tracks I especially love.

Oh No!
The first single I ever heard, and my introduction to Marina and her style. After getting linked to the video from Nylon, I pretty much watched it for a week, stopping only to eat and tear apart my closet searching for something resembling anything worn in the video. No luck.

Although the style and the attitude caught my attention first, what stayed with me were the lyrics and the themes of the song. As an utter romantic, I balked at first to "don't do love, don't do friends / I'm only after success." But after the first initial hump, I saw the song's other message: self-reliance. "I know exactly what I want and who I want to be...I'm now becoming my own self-fulfilled prophecy..." As a career girl down on my luck, this was inspiring. It was the get-up and go I needed to get me back on the job hunting train.

In actuality, Marina's songs on this album are chronicling her rise to stardom. She learns to deal with her insecurities about putting herself in the public light, she struggles to overcome what other people think of her ("OH MY GAWD, you look just like Shakira / No, no, you're Catherine Zeta / Actually, my name's Marina."), and she takes big risks not knowing whether the payoff will be worth it. Oh No! is about what happens when you realize you have to sell your soul to reach certain levels of fame, and the question of whether or not you will do it. Will we go all the way? This reminds me of a great Bollywood movie, Fashion, where an ambitious small-town girl does whatever it takes to become an internationally famous runway model. She gets everything she ever wanted, but also gets an abortion and wakes up in a strange bed with a black guy after a night of coke-addled hysteria. But I digress.

Honestly, the second verse and following bridge hit me the most:

One track mind, one track heart, if I fail, I'll fall apart

Maybe it is all a test, 'cause I feel like I'm the worst, so I always act like I'm the best

If you are not very careful, your possessions will possess you

TV taught me how to feel, now real life has no appeal

I feel like if I don't get a job and get something to work on, I really will fall apart. Without a focus, what do you do with your time?

Oh No! is great if you know how to live in moderation. If you have a direction, you can pursue it, but you can also decide to leave your integrity intact.

I Am Not A Robot
This song is a revelation, like many others on the album. While listening to it, you wake up and look at yourself differently. You are not a robot after all.

This song is about being detached from the rest of the world, about the way Marina would behave in relationships (The Sun, Feb. 5 2010). It's about bridging the impossible divide between an outward appearance and how you feel on the inside. "Better to be hated than loved for what you're not."

I generally believe that it's better to be yourself and alone than surrounded by people sharing in a lie. That's easy to say when you have friends, but as I take more and more time to do things that I actually like and that express my personality, I find I need the validation of my friends less and less. While Marina appeals to others to teach her "how to feel real" and to "turn her power on," you can really do it yourself. I like singing this to myself while looking in the mirror, and listening to what my reflection says.

Numb

Numb is about the end of Marina's journey: she's reached the Emerald City of fame, but has no emotional connections or friends. After devoting herself wholly to the pursuit of fame, she reaches her goal and realizes it's empty. In her search for the "golden light" she plunges herself farther and farther into the dark. "And I will wonder why / I get dark only to shine."

We all have situations like this: the great career that makes marriage impossible, the creative spark that alienates everyone around us. If these situations are focusing on relationships, it's because 1) I am very relationship-oriented and 2) this is another song about Marina's relationships. "I'm no good to anyone / 'Cause all I care about is being number one." She lost everyone in her skyrocket to fame, and now is shining and falling back down:

And I light up the sky

Stars that burn the brightest

Fall so fast and pass you by

Spark like empty lighters