Music Review

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS - FROOT

By Maggie Strauser

Welsh singer Marina Lambrini Diamandis (otherwise known as Marina and the Diamonds) sheds her old skin for a fresh new sound on her newest album, Froot. The pop star ultimately defied predictability and stereotype in her old albums, The Family Jewels and Electra Heart, and continues to do so now in 2015. After a two-year hiatus, the artist has been completely reborn from a preppy false-diva (Electra Heart) to a “froot”-bearing goddess.

As a huge fan of Marina and the Diamonds, I’d pre-ordered the album months before its release, not entirely sure what I was expecting, but knowing it would be amazing nonetheless. The debut song “FROOT” was released on January first, and a month later, “Happy” was released. A month after that, the song “Immortal” was released. And another month after that, right before the full-album release, “Forget” was released. All of the songs were well-received by consumers and fans were very excited about the entire album after getting monthly tastes of four delicious “froots” from the album.

Marina stripped herself bear, dropping the extra fluff and other producers from previous album Electra Heart to write and either produce or co-produce (with just one co-producer, David Kosten) all of the songs for this album. The backbone of “Froot” is made up of a sense of reflection, from what I’ve gathered, and looks inward rather than outward. It starts with the intense track “Happy” before moving on to the title song “FROOT” and all of the other amazing songs that easily evoke a variety of emotions from those who listen to them. In my opinion, the most notable songs are “Blue” and “Savages.” That may just be because they’re my favorite ones on the album, but it also could be the fact that “Blue” fosters vulnerability in its upbeat, catchy tune, and “Savages” talks about what makes humans savage and how it’s “a human trait / Hidden deep down inside of our DNA.”

Every song on the album, though similar, is different, and brilliantly so. In this album, Marina offers her fans and soon-to-be fans a variety of sounds to enjoy as well as deep, personal lyrics that come from the heart and are incredibly relatable. Froot, for me, was well worth the wait, and the hype surrounding the wait. I think you should definitely give it a listen if you’re looking for music that’s equivalent to a breath of fresh air.