Marina & The Diamonds - Obsessions

It’s February, and everyone finally is beginning to ignore the hype behind the ‘Bands Of 2009’ and actually looking at the music. There are the obvious ones, like White Lies and Florence And The Machine, who are going to be praised for whatever they do. However, there are also less-often noted next-big-things. Marina & The Diamonds are one of these acts, however this London-based Singer-songwriter far outshines any other of the big acts tipped for this year, and ‘Obsessions’, and it’s b-side ‘Mowgli’s Road’ proves this more than anything.

‘Obsessions’ begins with a soft, beautiful intro before quickly shifting up gears into a tender, yet powerful song about love and fear. An instantly striking feature about the song that helps Marina stand out from the thousands of other piano-playing female singers is her unique voice. She seems to be just as comfortable with the lower-end of the vocal scale as she is with the upper regions. The song strides purposefully throughout, adding in a solid drum hook and simple harmonies until the closing, when it suddenly slows down and returns to it’s roots, ending with the same honest heartbreak it opened with.

However, while this A-side may be a direct hammer blow to the heartstrings, it is the other song adorning this single, ‘Mowgli’s Road’, that really shows how Marina deserves to stand out from the ‘Ones To Watch’ crowd. She has been compared to Kate Bush in the past, however Kate has never written a song as catch and upbeat as this. The song has a surreal aspect that keeps Marina’s edges sharp, occasionally adding in screeching backing vocals and a jolty piano track that’s barely noticeable among the delightful mess. The song is not afraid to delve into more bizarre territories, but always pulls it back for the massive hook of a chorus. Suddenly, just as the song passes it’s stride, instead of dragging it out Marina decides to end the song with one minute of strange hooting, monkey noises and bells. This may sound like a forced attempt to stand out, but when heard it couldn’t sound more natural.

So now that the furore has calmed down amongst the obvious big-hitters of this year, it hopefully won’t be long until Marina & The Diamonds is to be one of the true hit artists of this year, especially if she manages to keep releasing singles as good as this.