Marina & The Diamonds

I've fallen victim to yet another female solo artist, this time welsh-born solo artist Marina & The Diamonds. Supposedly the diamonds are her fans rather than her backing band, but the word bears a curious resemblance to her Greek last name Diamandis. She is based in London and has already played slots at Glastonbury festival (which i missed!) and Radio One's Big Weekend. She was recently signed to Neon Gold records.

She's had her fair share of controversy, last year she was noted for throwing an infamous 'girly punch' at a man in the front row who had been fiddling with her keyboard, and then blogging about it. On an angry day last year she wrote a scathing review of Kate Nash and Lily Allen on the same blog (which you can check out here) and her problems with the female celebrity. But nowadays she's over that, having seen for herself the beginnings of her rise to fame.

Her music mirrors this outspoken view on the world, supplying highly critical lyrics through the medium of quirky, Kate Bush inspired piano pop.

"One minute i'm a little sweetheart
and next minute you are an absolute creep."

Marina doesn't just sing the lyrics. I am consistently left with the impression, even from the studio recordings, that these songs are really delivered. Mowgli's road is the closest thing to total anger, but even the most subtle and personal of her releases so far - 'Obsessions' shows a considerable amount of it; Marina uses her songs very much as a way of venting her anger at society in general.

"You say Y-E-S to everything."

It is a very exciting time for female solo artists this summer; rarely have they been more in fashion. Little Boots, La Roux, and Florence & The Machine's albums have lived up to the hype and Marina's as of yet untitled debut album is surely a safe bet to do the same. All details of albums release dates, names and tracklistings, as well as future single releases are very much being kept a secret. Her live shows however are one thing she has no problem opening up about - she's playing Reading & Leeds festivals, Camp Bestival, as well as the NME radar tour through September and October. Marina is definitely one to watch this summer!

As usual these days, i cannot upload mp3s, but they will soon make a return, i promise.