Fortunately, here’s Marina to dig us out of that hole (p.s. we underrated the shit out of this)…
[Video][Website]
[5.58]
Dan MacRae: Beware of America. It’s an evil place where dreams are crushed and men speak with a deranged valley girl twang.
[6]
Alex Macpherson: A take on the American Dream so reductive and cliché-ridden that pretty much every line makes me cringe with shame for Marina, who’s doing an extremely good job so far of marking herself out as 2010’s biggest moron-in-waiting. Also, STOP SINGING LIKE THAT YOU DIV.
[2]
Jessica Popper: I think there’s a very good chance that Marina could be one of the UK’s biggest stars by the end of the year. For starters, all her songs are good, unlike Florence with her 90% boring 10% ace approach. Marina really looks like a star in the video for “Hollywood”, and the song is a bit poppier than her previous work, yet still distinctively her. With Marina and Daisy Dares You both on the verge of success, I have to wonder if Amy Studt was just 6 years too early?
[8]
Doug Robertson: A glorious hybrid of PJ Harvey and Sparks, she’s filling a gap that didn’t even exist until she smashed her way through the wall of creative stagnation and forced people to sit up and take notice.
[10]
Alfred Soto: Marina’s voice is odd enough to sit up and notice; the songs won’t keep you from sliding down into your seat, though.
[5]
Edward Okulicz: It’s hard to shake the feeling that Marina would be a more sympathetic vocalist, protagonist, storyteller — anything — if she didn’t sing as if she had large weights attached to her bottom lip.
[6]
Martin Skidmore: Her voice is rather annoying, swooping up and down in ridiculous ways. This is a bit of a shame, because when it leaps into the quite big and bright chorus, this is rather catchy and lively. If I weren’t thoroughly sick of quirky female singing, I might easily like it.
[4]
Martin Kavka: This is the first Marina single I’ve liked, although I’m not sure that the message of the song — famewhoring yourself is acceptable if you’re sufficiently self-critical about it, as opposed to those other famewhores who think that the objects of their dreams are real — makes any sense. There’s a beautiful extended cymbal crash in the chorus (emphasizing the word “obsessed” in the line “I’m obsessed with the mess that’s America”) that takes this into the sphere of the epically joyful.
[7]
Iain Mew: Marina continues to flit between styles with every single, here settling on something gaudy with a forceful processed piano backing that sounds like Keane. But, you know, good Keane. Sadly she’s lyically at her messiest and least sympathetic yet, talking about contracting American dreams but not coherently expressing either why that’s bad or why they are so infectious. And I imagine everyone’s going to talk about “actually my name’s Marina” but what really makes it grate, I think, is that the “fat security” it’s directed at doesn’t even get a noun, never mind a name.
[5]
Ian Mathers: The backing is kind of nice and might work well for someone with a better voice or better lyrics, but I’d honestly rather hear Razorlight’s take on the same thing. Razorlight. I’m just sayin’.
[2]
Matt Cibula: It’s clear that she doesn’t really know anything about America, but then again who does? I really wanted to give this a higher score to make up for my earlier hateration, but I just can’t do it; I guess I just really don’t love her voice or her “clever” lyrical touches. And I’m glad she has good self-esteem, but who thinks she looks anything like Shakira? Threw in an extra point because I think I’ll like it better in a fortnight.
[5]
Additional Scores:
Anthony Easton: [7]