Shampain

Song: Shampain

Artist: Marina and the Diamonds

Album: The Family Jewels

Wow. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Marina Diamandis, A.K.A., Marina in the Diamonds, an artist that if you didn't know much about now, you will. I was introduces to Marina by my friend Melanie a couple months back and have been enjoying a couple tracks that she'd released on her "The Crown Jewels EP" as well as a few random tracks that had been posted to blogs, including first single "Mowgli's Road," "I Am Not a Robot," and "Obsessions." So I was eager to hear her debut. And it's quite the stunner.

Marina will most likely be compared to Tori Amos and Kate Bush, as she certainly has their bold sense of artist adventure and unique point of view. "The Family Jewels" turns out to be a very enjoyable musical platter ranging from upbeat piano-based ditties to shimmering electro-pop and et her voice, and approach remain very distinct from track to track. It's all just so... Marina. I think she may be a real artist to watch.

In the age of leaked music, it's very important to let the right tunes out at the right time. And Marina got us all hooked with those three killer songs on the EP, and instead of those three good songs and a bunch of filler... there is just a bunch of killer. ;) "Are you Satisfied?" is a great opener, and then things really pick up with the dancy, catchy, "Shampain," which I loved right away. "I Am Not a Robot" comes after with a smile, like a new friend. She wisely bookcases the okay "Girls" with "Robot" and "Mowgli's" and follows it with "Obsessions," which somehow sounds better on the album than it did on the EP. (It wasn't a favorite at the time, but I'm really digging it now.) Next is second single "Hollywood," another new favorite... and I was already to declare the album a new favorite.

Six more tracks of gloriously off-kilter pop wrap up "The Family Jewels" and solidify Diamandis as an artist to watch and the album as one of the best female singer-songwriter debuts to come along in quite some time. If you've heard a little but of Marina and liked her, you will be nothing but blown away by the entire album. Highly recommended.

Enjoy.

Hollywood

Mowgli's Road

Obsessions