Marina is the “Princess of Power”
Pop music has been making waves recently, from Brat summer to the historic rise of Chappell Ronan. There’s one pop girlie that I feel we’ve been missing out on, and baby, she’s back! Marina made her debut in 2010 with The Family Jewels. This album changed the lives of many people, including my own. The persona Marina created with this album and her follow-up, Electra Heart, completely transformed the lives of young girls. If you lived through this era, Marina was everywhere, and everyone wanted to be her. She was one of the it-girls of the Indie Sleaze era. As time moved on, I fear society has moved on from her. While the world is in shambles, we have incredible pop music and Marina is back to provide the soundtrack!
In her last three releases, Marina had moved away from her previous persona. I totally get that she’s older and has been through more life experiences. No one wants the same album over and over again. Froot was more Euro-pop themed. There were some excellent tracks, but they felt darker and a departure from her bubblegum pop albums. To be honest, I did not listen to Love + Fear; the tracks I did hear didn’t stand out to me. Her last album, Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, was more of a feminist and political album. She even collabed with famed Russian feminist group, Pussy Riot. The album was great, and I enjoyed the new direction. I think all of us Marina fans were hoping she’d revisit her “classic” Marina style of pop music. In Princess of Power, she does just that.
Image via Instagram
The Princess of Power goes through some of the same themes as Marina’s early work: love, lost love, struggling with growing up, being sad, and, of course, heartbreak. The tracks are all in her signature pop style with some fun twists. The production is perfect! Each track feels different than the last. The newer elements like heavy electronics and even video game music really add a new layer to songs like “Final Boss” and “Digital Fantasy”. Marina’s vocals are incredible as per usual, but they particularly shine in songs like “Butterfly”, “Rollercoaster”, “Metallic Stallion”, and really every song in the album. Also, the instrumentation is incredible from acoustic sets to full strings, seriously, they killed it on this one.
Now that I’m done nerding out on the technical side, let’s focus on the tracks and lyrics themselves. The album as a whole really flows well together. I was pleasantly surprised by each track. This is truly pop music at its best! The first part of the album starts with Marina’s dynamic, independent feminist side. She’s looking for love, but will always love herself more. She acknowledges her change and what it took for her to get in there in “Butterfly”. “To become a butterfly, parts of me had to die / Spread my wings in the golden light and I fly, and I fly.” There are also just the fun campy songs like in “Cuntissimo” which did numbers at Coachella. The song hearkens back to Marina’s Electra Heart days. The album as a whole is fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously.
The next part of the album really blossoms into what it’s like to be in love. The singer has found their new lover and is ready to give love a try again. In “Cupid’s Girl”, our main character has set her sights and is ready to take the leap: “Cupid, you’re so stupid / Trying to resist my kiss / But you know I’ll never miss”. Next, we move to “Metallic Stallion,” where we continue this theme of love. Marina’s vocals in this track are exquisite. Our singer still wants to be in control, but wants love to go well. There are a few tracks that are just fun and flirty. There’s no real story other than, hey, let’s have sex because we’re young. I am here for it. “Rollercoaster” and “Je Ne Sais Quoi” both fit this category. They are reminiscent of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso”.
Image via Instagram from Coachella
In the latter half of the album, we start to get those darker tones of Marina’s work. “Digital Fantasy” shares how her lover doesn’t like the real her, just the one he sees online. With lyrics: “Want a digital fantasy, you don't even want the real me / Say it honestly, you don't want real love”. This speaks to this fear that this person doesn’t want her, but the persona she has made. This is followed by “Everybody Knows I’m Sad,” and this song is very classic Marina. This track reminds me of “Teen Idle” and “Valley of the Dolls” off of Electra Heart. “Adult Girl” also fits into this category of “sad and hot” music. Our singer wants to grow up, but is still struggling with her childhood. She wants to be free of it, but can’t seem to escape it: “Spent my twenties on the run drеaming of suicide and love / Think I'm stuck somewhеre between childhood and va-va-voomI”. Lastly, we have the inevitable heartbreak, something that happens in every Marina album. The lovers fight, and our main character must go back to being lonely. When it comes to Marina, you don’t want to cross because she will mess you up. “Final Boss” is this dreaded, fated breakup. The struggle for control in the relationship meets its demise: “You don't like anything you can't control (Boom, boom-boom) / But now that means that you end up on your own”.
As for the last group of tracks, I can only think of these as just plain fun. There’s not too much storytelling happening, but they’re songs that deserve recognition. Songs that will be in summer playlist rotation. “Princess of Power”, “Cuntissimo”, “Je Ne Sais Quoi”, and “I <3 You” are all just fun tracks. They are pop music in its highest form. They deserve their spot in pop music tiers with the likes of Brat and Lady Gaga’s music. They are all individually unique songs. I especially want to highlight the 70s vibe of “I <3 You”. I don’t know what I was expecting with this track, but I was pleasantly surprised. This one is a certified club banger.
Marina has been on the scene for over 15 years now. I don’t feel like she has truly gotten her flowers. She deserves to be among the great pop artists like Lana Del Rey, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, Lorde, and Chappell Ronan. She inspired a whole generation and has done it again. Princess of Power is a return to form for Marina. She was never done and is ready to be the Princess of Pop again. This is the perfect soundtrack to hot girl summer.
