Marina And The Diamonds - 'The Family Jewels'
The world of pop is a princess's palace at the moment with everybody from Beyoncé to Pixie Lott to Lady Gaga vying to take the title of Queen Of Pop from the flagging career of Madonna. Well there's a new pretender to the throne who's out to stake her claim to that much-coveted position and she is one Marina Lambrini Diamandis a.k.a. Marina And The Diamonds.
Having come second in the trend-setting BBC Sound Of 2010 poll - a position formerly held by the likes of Franz Ferdinand, White Lies and Duffy - there was understandably a lot of expectation for this young Welsh ladies debut album. Lead single proper 'Hollywood' has been doing the rounds on radio and nightclubs over the past few months or so and it's tightly produced mix of piano'n'strings'n'synth has met with considerable success. It's catchy melodic pop is typical of what you'll find on the rest of 'The Family Jewels' and Marina's assurance and brassiness shines through on every track.
The young singer has an accented staccato delivery that's reminiscent of Adam & The Ants and it marks her vocal style as quite distinct from the glut of Alicia/Beyoncé/Leona wannabes plying their trade at present and gives her songs a quirky confidence without forsaking their effectiveness catchy tunes.
Marina clearly has a knack for writing a decent pop song (though lacks the kind of cheeky charm and wit of say Lily Allen) and tracks like 'Obsessions', 'Mowgli's Road', and 'Shampain' display a variety of approaches to creating a memorable tune, all achieved with aplomb. There are other moments such as 'I Am A Robot' and 'Numb' which serve to remind you that there is a serious talented musician at the heart of all of this fun.
A very impressive debut album from the first new pop star of 2010 to really make a mark.