Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Top 10 Albums of 2010 - #2 The Family Jewels by Marina and the Diamonds


The first time I heard Marina Diamandis (singer-songwriter of Marina & the Diamonds), I was smitten: her single, “I Am Not A Robot”, was the Starbucks pick-of-the-week. Per usual, I binge downloaded all the Starbucks picks in my wallet at the same time I was shredding old receipts. Some days this process yields a winner; other days, nothing; on the rare occasion I’ll uncover a gem (pun intended). Whatever else I downloaded that day (perhaps regrettably) has been forgotten, because Marina outshone it all.

“Marina & the Diamonds” is Marina’s stage name. “The Diamonds” are not her backup band (as I wrongly assumed) but rather her fans. She says on her MySpace page: “I’m Marina. You are the diamonds”. In this offbeat vein, her single, and indeed much of her album, plays out like a quirky, indie movie. It does what it wants without any self-consciousness about being different. A song about (not) being a robot. Random vibrato. Vocal synthesizers and echoes. Doesn’t every song have these? Marina leads you to believe so with the confidence and personality she emits with her music. It’s fetching how the song creeps up on you, with the dainty piano and delicately performed vocals. The first time I heard it, I never expected a full-fledged pop-dance number would follow. Pleasant surprises like this are widespread in Marina’s debut studio album, “The Family Jewels”. Akin to Regina Spektor (another much adored female singer-songwriter), Marina uses her voice like an instrument. For her, it’s more than just hitting the right pitch. There’s dynamics. Not just in volume, but also speed. Short, separated notes. Long, fluid ones. And like a seasoned jazz musician, Marina mixes these elements in a way that feels spontaneous. There’s times when Marina alters her voice to lend the melody and lyrics a specific personality – like a robot in “I Am Not A Robot”. Or in “Hollywood” when Marina uses her lower range, her voice takes on a dreamy, almost underwater quality. Sometimes she jumps to her falsetto even though she could hit the same note without it. It’s these nuances that make Marina’s music unique, impromptu and intentional, all at the same time.

If you mixed the off-color attitude and cynicism of Lily Allen, the charisma and electronica of Lady Gaga, and the spontaneity and experimentation of Kate Nash you’d have the makings of Marina’s sound. But in the end, it’s what Marina does with these qualities that truly makes her music singular and extraordinary. Listening to “The Family Jewels” was, for me, like watching an indie movie: it’s eccentric and strange at times but the pleasure rests in the unpredictability.

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