Review

Fifteen years since her debut with 'The Family Jewels', Marina Diamandis has emerged from her most recent creative chrysalis wielding a disco ball like a sceptre. 'Princess of Power', her sixth studio effort, is an unapologetically maximalist affair that finds the Welsh-Greek pop maverick trading her previous introspective musings for something altogether more brazen and brilliant. From the opening salvos, it's clear Marina has been listening to rather a lot of ABBA. The sound has been "revamped into an arch, ABBA-esque take on Eurodisco", and frankly, it suits her down to the sequined ground. Where 2021's 'Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land' felt occasionally weighed down by its own conceptual ambitions, this latest offering fizzes with the kind of infectious energy that suggests Marina has remembered precisely why she fell in love with pop music in the first place. The album's central conceit—exploring what power truly means for a woman navigating the music industry—could have felt heavy-handed in less capable hands. Instead, Marina deploys her trademark wit and emotional intelligence to create something that manages to be both deeply personal and gloriously universal. "Each song pulses with intention as she sheds past identities, honours the scars of old wounds, and steps fully into her evolved self." The production throughout is lush without being overwrought, incorporating chamber-pop flourishes and new wave sensibilities into a sonic palette that feels both nostalgic and thoroughly contemporary. Marina's voice, always her greatest weapon, soars across these tracks with renewed confidence, particularly on standouts like "Butterfly"—a track that uses metamorphosis as both literal and metaphorical framework for the album's themes of spiritual rebirth. What's most striking about 'Princess of Power' is how it recaptures Marina's early magnetism whilst acknowledging her evolution as an artist. The record was "so much about reigniting my sense of playfulness", she's noted, and that sense of rediscovered joy permeates every glittering moment. This isn't Marina playing it safe; it's Marina playing to win. If there's a criticism to be made, it's that the album occasionally tips into territory that feels more like fan service than genuine artistic statement. Some tracks veer dangerously close to pastiche, and the sex-positive messaging, whilst welcome, sometimes feels a touch heavy-handed. But these are minor quibbles with what is ultimately a triumphant return to form. 'Princess of Power' succeeds because it understands that true power lies not in serious proclamations but in the simple act of refusing to apologise for taking up space. Marina has always been pop music's most endearing maximalist, and here she's created her most cohesive statement yet—a disco-pop manifesto that's equal parts vulnerable and victorious. In an era dominated by bedroom pop moodiness, Marina's commitment to full-throated pop euphoria feels almost revolutionary. This princess has very much claimed her throne.

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