Marina Diamandis speaks to us exclusively about her awesome new record, Electra Heart (released on 30 April 2012), lost love, body image and why she decided to go bottle blonde…
GLAMOUR: What was the inspiration behind Electra Heart?
Marina: The idea of personifying love. I felt like a walking broken heart for four months when writing the album at the start, so I wanted to portray that. I liked the idea of writing about the real side of love. Not the, 'Baby, I miss you, come back!' More the 'I'm never going to put myself in that position again and henceforth, my reign as Queen Bitch From Hell begins'.
G: How would you say you've evolved as an artist for this record?
M: I'm more self-assured. Trust my instincts more. Control all of the visual direction. I know how to be an artist, in the sense that I know how to represent my ideas now. The first record was all over the place.
G: If you were describing your sound to an alien that had never heard pop music before, what would you tell them?
M: Electronic carousel whirling round in hell?
G: Did someone in particular inspire your single Primadonna? Or is it metaphorical?
M: Yes. When you are with the wrong person, who doesn't really love you, all you want is to be adored. It makes you more inward and needy. GROSS. So I flipped the pages and channeled the idea of being a person who didn't need anybody. A primadonna who was adored the entire world over.
G: What's the one message you're trying to get out with the album?
M: I guess the main message is centered around what we all think love should be. What we expect from it, and what the reality of it is. There is some questioning of identity in there. I changed my look so radically. Partly to become someone else and separate myself from being that love-lorn person. Partly because I wanted to see how differently I would be perceived because of it. I was interested in the power of image - it's what pop stars are built on. And how weak that image simultaneously is. For example, you take it all off when you go to bed at night.
G: There are some strong references to female empowerment at play here…
M: Indeed. It was really helpful for me in terms of getting my confidence back again. That I could step back and laugh and feel almost invincible through writing a song like Homewrecker or Bubblegum Bitch. I think when you're with the wrong person in a relationship, you start to see yourself differently. I felt very ugly when I was with a certain person because he made me feel ugly inside. He wouldn't even touch me in public. And when I look back at those photos I feel like kind of sad because I looked just fine.
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G: Talk us through your personal Top 3 songs on the record. What do you like about them?
M: Lies and Starring Role are the core of the record in some respects. They are very personal to me. I am proud of them because they are completely honest. That's what you need but don't really want to do when you're hurt - to admit the truth.
G: What's the best piece of relationship advice you can give our readers?
M: Well, if you're making too many excuses for someone, agonising over them in a way which takes up all your waking thoughts and feel so nervous around them you could be SICK, then they are probably the wrong person. Ha ha!
G: If you could collaborate with any artist alive now, who would it be and why?
M: Madonna. I admire her fire so much. She's my one and only.
G: What's the one song you can't stop listening to right now?
M: U.T.R.B Pressure. Oh and Love You Like A Love Song by Selena Gomez.
G: You've changed your look quite a bit recently (loving it, by the way). Who was your style inspiration?
M: Thank you! I have always been obsessed to the core with Marilyn [Monroe]. Also, Madonna, and for the theatrical-romantic side, a pinch of old Marie Antoinette. The clothes are very 60s/70s cheap thrift store. I am very curvy, so the vintage stores suit me better than most designers. I just can't seem to give up crisps, or make my boobs shrink for that matter. Alas, I will never fit a size zero.
G: What's the one item of clothing you'll be wearing all summer?
M: An A-line skirt! And my prom dresses.
G: The hottest man in the world right now is…
M: George Clooney and always will be.
G: What made you reach for the bottle and go blonde?
M: Blonde symbolises sexuality and power - it holds very different connotations. The archetypal star has always been blonde. I wanted to see how it felt.
G: We want some awesome new music! Who can you recommend us to check out?
M: U.T.R.B, Grimes and a girl called Laura Welsh.
G: What's next for Marina & The Diamonds?
M: Beans on toast, actually. Then I have to go fix a wedding veil for my gig at G.A.Y tonight.
WANT MORE MARINA? WATCH HER SPEAKING ABOUT ELECTRA HEART BELOW:
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REVIEW - MARINA & THE DIAMONDS' PRIMADONNA
FESTIVALS 2012 - FASHION, CELEBS & THE ULTIMATE GUIDE
