Marcel Winatschek

Marina And The Diamonds: Mowgli’s Road

I kept mixing up Florence and the Machine with Marina and the Diamonds. My friend wouldn’t stop talking about catching Florence at the Berlin show, and I’d nod along picturing the wrong band—one I actually liked more, if I’m being honest.

But Marina and the Diamonds: she’s British, one-woman operation, and her voice is something. Fractured and tense, built into these synth arrangements that shouldn’t work but do. I’d already heard Obsessions and I Am Not A Robot floating around—those unsettled anxious songs that grab you—and when Mowgli’s Road premiered last night it all clicked into place.

There’s something in the voice itself. The production’s tight, the songwriting works, but it’s the voice that does it. Desperate. Like she’s not quite sure if she should be asking or telling.

Her debut comes next spring, Family Jewels, and I’m just waiting to see if she’ll actually show up in Germany. When she does Berlin will fill up. Right now I might be the only person listening, but I’ve got no doubt about that. There’s something real happening here.