Marina And The Diamonds is finally happy…and no, it has nothing to do with Pharrell.
With her second serving of Froot (remember, we’re getting one taste per month until the album drops in April!), the talented singer-songstress is stripping it down on the album’s opening number in an incredibly emotional ballad.
“Couldn’t relax, couldn’t sit back and let the sunlight in my lap/I sang a hymn to bring me peace and then it came, a melody,” she begins.
In contrast to the thunderous production of Electra Heart and even the disco pulsations of “Froot,” “Happy” sees Marina laying her emotions bare above the simplest, sweetest of piano melodies. As it goes on, the song fills out with some subtle production, including chilly background harmonies and a light, skipping drum beat. But the focus remains entirely on Marina’s haunting voice: “I found what I’d been looking for in myself/Found a life worth living for someone else/Never thought that I could be…happy.” Gulp.
Like Mama RuPaul says: If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?
It’s a deeply spiritual, hopeful and personal moment (you know, like Britney Jean), and an honest reflection of herself in the years since making Electra Heart.
From her interview with The Line Of Best Fit:
Electra Heart was a completely new identity. “I knew that wasn’t true to who I was as a person, or how I felt like who I wanted to be, but when you’re not happy with yourself like that, it’s very hard to show it, and it’s very hard to change your behaviours.”
It was almost like I had been burdened by something my whole life and then suddenly that went away…” she explains. “I can’t even describe how amazing it is… you suddenly realise why people are happy and why people enjoy things. I think I used to believe that being depressed was part of my personality or that I was born like that, but it’s quite shocking to realise that perhaps that isn’t the case.
When Marina is happy, so are we.
‘Froot’ will be released on April 6. (iTunes)