She’s your favorite Pop musician and you might not even know it: Meet MARINA

Graphic by Remy Foeller

By Sofia Giarrusso

Halloween always inflicts an absurd panic on liberal arts students. As a victim of this phenomenon last October, I hunted to find a tastefully niche, yet still attractive, getup. After many wasted hours on Pinterest, I couldn’t believe how blind I was. The answer was literally right in front of me, hanging above my Twin XL bed the entire time: dress as an icon…an idol…a “Teen Idle”–MARINA. Specifically, I decked myself out as Electra Heart–the character that served as the concept for her 2012 sophomore album. 

Though I was convinced my costume was easily recognizable to the modern college student’s eye, I ended up spending the entire night explaining the relevance of it. A simple “I’m Marina!” wasn’t cutting it for most, but once I got to singing my own shotty renditions of her music to prove my case, other people’s faces lit up. An abundance of “Yeah, I know that one!” and “I’ve heard that on TikTok!” swirled around me and the iconic heart on my cheek. 

The lesson I should probably take from this experience is ‘don’t dress up as your favorite B-list musician for Halloween.’ But, where’s the fun in that? Rather, I would like to use my costume blunder as an excuse for a history lesson! So, paint on a cat eye and tie a bow around your head as I invite you to meet Marina Diamandis: your favorite pop musician and you might not even know it.

Diamandis, simply known by her stage name MARINA (previously Marina and the Diamonds), has proven to be evergreen as she continues to grow in popularity. To the casual listener, she’s the voice behind fun, weird songs you can bop your head to, that you recognize from TikTok sounds and Just Dance 4. To the more adoring fan, MARINA’s hits are playful, poppy auditory experiences that pull from the experiences of being a longing woman in a taxing world. Her music and persona represent unabridged theatricality and comfortability in the female identity. Throughout her almost 15-year career, MARINA has continued to invite her others into a unique world that blends utopic melodies with dystopian topics. 

MARINA is not an indie artist by any means–she has historically charted in both the United States and Europe. Still, in recent years, the use of her music on TikTok has shot her popularity to once-unknown heights. Her biggest hits like “Primadonna” and “Bubblegum Bitch” continue to circulate in online spaces, yet, rather oddly, less popular songs of hers have also taken the digital center stage. Specifically, songs from her debut album, The Family Jewels (2010), that were once buried deep into her discography have found new fame. 

The TikTok community has connected with MARINA’s dynamic lyricism as songs like “Oh No!,” “Hermit the Frog,” “Are You Satisfied?,” and the titular track, “The Family Jewels,” have become widely used sounds on the platform. Take this line from “Oh No!” for example: “'Cause I feel like I'm the worst/So I always act like I'm the best.” The original, unaltered song has over 75k videos with many lipsyncing to that very lyric, creating a trend in itself. Here’s another line from “Are You Satisfied” that has been quoted more than 24k times on TikTok: “High achiever, don't you see?/Baby, nothing comes for free/They say I'm a control freak/Driven by a greed to succeed.” This data does not even take into account the abundance of sped-up/‘nightcore’ versions of MARINA’s songs that have furthermore increased her silent stardom. 

The melodic poetry of The Family Jewels is one of the plethora of reasons that it has not only remained my favorite MARINA album throughout the years, but one of my favorite albums of all time. It simply sounds like nothing before it, and quite frankly, nothing after it. From absolutely absurd and loud on “Mowgli’s Road” to intense and stifling on “Guilty,” MARINA’s debut album illustrates the great lengths of her artistic range.  If you tried to place the record into a box, it would fall somewhere in the realms of pop, synth, alternative, and bubblegum. Lyrical discourse about female identity and sexuality saturates the entire project which clearly establishes Diamandis’ career-long artistic vision. The Family Jewels refuses to be ordinary which makes it so extraordinary–it scratches an itch I was unaware I possessed when I first stumbled upon it back in my middle school days. 

Yes, it is a possibility that I am so passionate about this project because of the malleable days of my youth. And, yes, I am indeed a staunch proprietor of nostalgia. Nevertheless, every time I find myself immersed in a full playthrough, I never fail to discover fresh nuances as my appreciation simultaneously evolves. The Family Jewels is truly one-of-a-kind–experimental and flamboyant, yet still rooted in vulnerability and heart; it deserves much more attention and respect outside of sped-up 15-second audio clips.

What makes this unforeseen popularity of The Family Jewels so interesting to me is that MARINA’s Electra Heart era in the mid-2010s has historically outshined her debut. 2012’s Electra Heart is similar in theme to her debut work with a greater sonic focus on dance and electronic sounds. A stand-alone masterpiece itself, the sophomore album’s pop anthems cemented Diamandis as a saint of Tumblr teens and depressed 20-somethings. Most still associate MARINA as the conceptual, titular character of Electra Heart, all dolled up in frilly clothing, heavy mascara, and, of course, the heart on her cheek. The quirky genius of her debut was once a well-kept secret in its younger sibling’s shadow–now allowed to show off its brilliance by way of its online renaissance. 

MARINA is still active and released her fifth studio album, Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, in 2021 to generally favorable reviews. Both critics and fans found the record to be a satisfying return to her early days in its theming and auditory style. Moreover, MARINA’s influence can be heard amongst many up-and-coming artists like Chappell Roan, Hemlocke Springs, and MUNA. MARINA did not invent or even pioneer her musical flair, but her longevity and commitment to her craft have forged a path for more cool, unapologetic, rambunctious women in pop music.  
The Family Jewels, Electra Heart, and Diamandis’ entire discography and iconography demonstrate that in-your-face girl power is alive and well. MARINA will always be the soundtrack to my life and many other wanna-be Teen Idles out there. The masses share an evident admiration for her music, even if her iconography (or my measly, Halloweenish adaptation of it) isn’t enough to evoke immediate reactions.