She's from Wales (like Duffy) and her band is called Marina and the Diamonds, a name which is oddly similar to another pop hit of recent months Florence and the Machine. Marina's latest release Hollywood (Infected your brain) has attracted praise from music industry experts, critics and her listeners alike for its powerful sound, a hit quality and the lyrics which are deeply critical of America.
The lyrics have got me interested too, since they feature a character called Ania who is a Polish girl trying to marry rich in Hollywood. A classic eastern beauty, hot and blonde, she has her mind set on getting what she wants and sees America as a promised land that can save her from "living in a dive on vine", below her expectations and below what her looks predestine her to. Her ambitions of "kissing in the rain" are shared by hundreds of others possessed by the American promise who, more often than not, have "been living in a movie scene". This angry indictment, packaged in a glossy video and pop form, exposes - with a force of a three-minute tornado - the vices that American mass culture, exported and emulated throughout the world, is commonly accused of. Among others under criticism, there are desperate Hollywood wives, the celebrity craze, the expectations of the pampered "golden life", the glorification of money and, especially in the overblown video, plain idiocy. Here's a euphoric review of her gig at one British festival.
The only question is: how did the girl called Ania make it into the lyrics?
1: a dive is a cheap bar or hotel,
2: vine is cheaper, worse quality than wine, and drunk by losers,
3: Marina's image and voice are voluptuous (lubieżny).
4: When a building is ramshackle (rozklekotany) it's likely to disintegrate completely soon
5: Marina's voice is tremulous (drżący) and quirkily operatic.
6: to achive singalong status,
7: her two first singles were outshone by the new one,
8: to prove infectuous on repeated listening
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