As ten tracks felt entirely too short for an album one didn’t want to end, MARINA has been kind enough to release a deluxe edition (sort of in the spirit of Ariana Grande’s Positions [Deluxe]) of Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land. Having already given us a preview of songs to come with “Happy Loner,” the only introvert/misanthrope anthem of its kind, MARINA has now officially debuted “Pink Convertible,” “Free Woman” and demo versions of “Venus Fly Trap” and “Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land,” making for a grand total of five new (or new-ish) songs.
If “Happy Loner” is the authentically zen bonus track (with an equally as zen video to match), “Pink Convertible” is the dripping-with-signature-MARINA-sarcasm one. It’s also an obvious companion piece to the motif of “Purge the Poison.” The image that a “pink convertible” conjures (apart from Barbie driving in one) is that of froth and frivolity, profligacy and privilege. In short, the ultimate symbol of the vacuous rich person driving through L.A. (this also tends to include would-be California governor Angelyne, famous not for a pink convertible, but a pink Corvette). And this truly is an L.A. theme song for the ages. One ideal for being featured in a no longer satirical narrative about the post-apocalypse. Of course, MARINA herself is rich and has to drive a car in order to function in L.A., but they say self-awareness is the first step toward making any change.
The damning opus commences with the lyrics, “In the city of metal and sun/Angels and demons on the run/Empty boulevards shine like a gun/Swimming pools of people having fun/Walking like zombies in the night/Don’t fear the apocalypse, ’cause we’ll survive.” This, naturally, refers to the built-in post-apocalypse plan rich people have (also referenced in Don’t Look Up), complete with such elaborate escape hatches as New Zealand bunkers and joining Elon’s celebrity cabal in space. MARINA, who has spoken from the perspective of Mother Nature before, now does so legitimately from the perspective of a rich person when she sardonically remarks, “I just wanna forget/How fucked up is our planet/Laughing all the time/Driving in the sunshine/Pink convertible/Living in the free world/We’re so fucking blind, praying we’ll be fine.” But no amount of prayer or money can stop the other shoe from dropping.
Which is why MARINA, again, apologizes on behalf of everyone when she says, “Sorry to the flowers and the trees/And the fish poisoned in the seven seas.” It echoes more darkly the reverence given to nature on 2019’s “Handmade Heaven,” when MARINA says, “In this handmade heaven, it’s paradise/Bluebirds forever color the sky/In this handmade heaven, we forget the time/‘Cause birds of a feather fly together.” Mother Nature wasn’t so idyllic in 2019, but maybe it seemed that way because a pandemic hadn’t yet been set off as a direct result of humans impinging on animals’ territory with non-essential factories and housing created in the name of capitalism. And, speaking of, the anti-capitalist manifesto reaches a peak of venomous sarcasm when MARINA sings, as though she’s Ivanka, “The private jet looks cool on the ‘Gram/Forty pairs of Nikes, you’re the man/Leave me alone with my luck and money/And I don’t wanna know that it’s a time bomb, honey/Let me enjoy my lack of trouble/And nothing’s gonna burst my money bubble.” Yes, it’s a very perfect song for the end of the world. Which, whether rich or poor, we’ll all deny until it’s in our own backyard.
Elsewhere, Lady Gaga can step the fuck aside now that MARINA has her own song called “Free Woman,” a more poignant offering when it comes to addressing the prejudices and double standards women are faced with in life, particularly those who find themselves in the music industry. As not only the perfect song for Britney Spears (who gets a loving mention on “Venus Fly Trap”), it’s also well-timed to coincide with a certain episode of And Just Like That…, wherein Carrie considers getting plastic surgery. Ergo the MARINA line, “In twenty years, my face will be a shadow of my youth/They’ll try erase my wrinkles, yeah, they’ll try erase my truth/But I’ve been here before/And that shit don’t do anything to me anymore.” Essentially, so much dissection and scrutiny (though not even half as much as someone like Spears has received over the years) has made her immune to caring about what people say, least of all the male suits who think they run the show (even though none of them have a goddamn clue about art).
In many ways, “Free Woman” seems to be the well-crafted revenge song that MARINA cohort and contemporary Lana Del Rey wanted to have on Blue Banisters, but couldn’t manage to muster. Because the lyrics, “May my body be of service/May my beauty be of use/As a vessel that I live in/Not an object to abuse” are tailor-made for the type of message Del Rey wants to get across, but always seems to muddle. Along with, “Those with bad intentions, thеy can’t get the best of mе/I don’t pay them no attention/‘Cause they, they just don’t get it.” This is certainly more understandable than whatever Del Rey was prattling on about during her “question for the culture.”
As for MARINA, and so many other female pop stars (whether conventional “hos” like Ari or artfully marketed “weirdos” like Billie Eilish), the sentiment that still most sums up Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land is from a non-bonus track: “You’ll never stop me being me.” And thank baby J for that, because MARINA is just about the only source of depth right on the fringe of mainstream media.
