After a steady diet of much anticipation and living off the crumbs of single collaborations with others (specifically Clean Bandit), MARINA (more cleanly rebranded from Marina and the Diamonds) has finally given us a sample of her latest music and evolved sound in the form of a single and video called “Handmade Heaven.”
Shot in Estonia by Sophie Muller (best known for collaborations with Eurythmics, Blur, No Doubt and, at one point, MARINA foil Lana Del Rey, who is unquestionably living for this based on her supportive post of it on her Instagram), the dreamy video evokes the peaceful solitude that one can only get in the quietness of winter weather. Specifically a fresh snowfall just before everyone dares to venture outside and pillage it with skiing, sledding, snowboarding, snow angels made for Boomerang purposes, etc.
MARINA, in contrast, makes one realize the importance of the Emersonian pursuit of getting back to nature sans technology (minus the part where Muller uses many InShot-esque techniques to show us superimposed mirror images of MARINA’s head as she walks through the forest, framed in the center). While simultaneously honoring and being jealous of how the animals live their lives, MARINA sings amid the frosty Estonian backdrop, “I envy the birds high up in the trees/They live out their lives so purposefully/I envy the spiders, the squirrels and seeds/They all find their way automatically.”
Produced by Joel Little, MARINA’s aim in creating the lyrics to the song was to “imagine a world as simple as the beautiful creatures and nature that surround her.” The solitude and serenity that comes with such a milieu is perfectly punctuated by MARINA’s snowy surroundings. Putting Amanda Seyfried in Red Riding Hood to shame in her red hooded jacket, MARINA overlooks the ocean here, does an interpretive dance/walk to blooming flowers in the background there–essentially, she wants you to get as hard for nature as she is.
As her third single to come out (the previous two, “Disconnect” and “Baby,” again, both being with Clean Bandit) under the MARINA moniker, the lyrical and auditory motif solidifies the transition toward a more transcendental approach to music. For when MARINA initially took her hiatus from music beginning back in 2015, her aim was to rediscover the identity beneath the would-be pop star. And also to study human personality and attachment theory (though one would think that existing in the music industry would be enough source material for such a pursuit anyway).
When looking back upon one of her statements toward the beginning of her career, it’s evident that MARINA feels more connected to the universe than ever (despite the twenty-first century priding itself on total dissociation)–that statement being: “I created the name ‘Marina and the Diamonds’ five years ago and I never envisaged a character, pop project, band or solo artist. I saw a simple group made up of many people who had the same hearts. A space for people with similar ideals who could not fit in to life’s pre-made mold. I was terribly awkward for a long time! I really craved to be part of one thing because I never felt too connected to anybody and now I feel I have that all around me.” One can only imagine that cultivating the ideal environmental tableau for such a sentiment has helped (on an applicable side note, MARINA has been spending most of her time in Sweden, the UK and California for the recording of this album).
Speaking to how we’ve all likely been feeling of late amid being hurtled into the so-called future whether we want to be or not by Amazon, Google and Apple, MARINA declares, “This life don’t suit me anymore/The writing’s on the wall.” Also referred to as: (wo)man’s inherent need to get back to what’s natural. Though some might argue that means the dominance of a patriarchal society, so there’s that catch-22.
The still as of yet untitled fourth record from MARINA will be released later this year. May the Mother Nature-oriented motif persist, an organic evolution from what she started on her previous record, Froot.
