A Marina x ‘Love + Fear’ album appreciation post.
Marina is back to bless our ears with a new two-part album, ‘Love + Fear’, and ready for this new era, Marina has thought a lot about her evolution as an artist and as a person, which reflects in the maturity of her new record: “Marina and the Diamonds was my artist name for 10 years but as I’ve developed in my work it’s become important for me to present myself in a way that feels natural and human. Going under my first name is my way of achieving that.”
The album is her first since ‘FROOT’ in 2015, and here’s five reasons why we love it so far…
#1. ‘Love + Fear’ is split into two parts, essentially meaning that we get more songs spread across two albums! Marina released ‘Love’ first, then the joint album later. To make matters even more interesting, Marina’s ‘Love + Fear’ tour will feature a show that also splits in two, with an interval and set change in the middle!
#2. ‘Orange Trees’ explores her Greek roots; Marina reflects on her childhood memories of Lefkada - where her father’s family is from - and said that she was most excited to share this song over any other from ‘Love + Fear’. “I wrote ‘Orange Trees’ about the island that my family and I are from in Greece. It’s called Lefkada and it’s my favourite place in the world… I always feel at peace there. It’s like my body/ biology recognises I’m back home. Hope this song makes your summer sweeter than ever,”. The video was shot on location in Mexico.
#3. Her absolutely beautiful shoot with Refinery 29. Check out some of the gorgeous images below:
#4. Marina opened up about all her recent phone activities in an interview with Nylon, including her ‘boring’ text messages, Spotify activity, and a massive food order. Watch below…
#5. ‘Fear’ is the opposite to ‘Love’, and is Marina opening up about the struggles that she has been on since and while touring with ‘FROOT’, she revealed in an in-depth interview with Dazed Magazine. On the dual album, Marina said: “LOVE is filled with a longing to enjoy life (Handmade Heaven) and a desire for unity (To Be Human). FEAR explores subjects that have been a lot harder for me to work through and understand, such as purpose (Life is Strange), insecurity in love (Believe in Love and Soft to be Strong), and major shifts in our social conscience regarding the systematic misogyny and sexual abuse employed by powerful figures in the media (Karma). A companion to LOVE, these ideas cross to showcase and explore the polarising sides of human nature.” - We love her honesty and bravery in coming forward to discuss so publicly something so personal. You can hear her discuss more about her life and the album in this Youtube Q+A:
Marina's new album 'Love + Fear' is out now - stream it below:
P.S. Order the album on vinyl here!