“It was quite earth shattering,” Marina Diamandis tells Apple Music. “The feeling of not knowing what you want to do with your life is terrifying. And I’d never had that before because I had the luxury of being very focused for 10 years.” The singer/songwriter is describing the career knife-edge she found herself on after 2015’s Froot. Fortunately, an extended hiatus allowed a musical recharge and, armed with a streamlined stage name and double album, we’re all witnesses to a glorious pop return. “I’m at peace with myself,” she says. “And I feel less nervous than I’ve ever felt.” Here, she takes us through part one: LOVE.
“Handmade Heaven”
“Because of climate change conversation and how we all become more and more digitally attached, I think people are suddenly becoming more aware of the natural world. And I think that’s quite odd and intense. I’ve had a feeling of longing, or regret that nature isn’t a larger part of my life.”
“Superstar”
“I spoke with every producer specifically about wanting to have space on this record, because my past work hasn’t had a lot. I think also when your mind is clearer you write more sparse, simple songs. I also really like how the song celebrates the hard work that goes into a good relationship.”
“Orange Tree”
“It’s easy listening. I love it so much. I’m actually kind of addicted to it. I wrote it with a Swedish artist called Erik Hassle, which I really enjoyed. I haven’t always enjoyed that process in the past because I was always so nervous about songwriting with other people and it was such a solitary pursuit. But that fear has gone now.”
“Baby”
“I wrote this with my boyfriend [Clean Bandit’s Jack Patterson]. It’s got beautiful, quite classic melodies. I didn’t know what I was writing it for, I just knew I wanted to do another session with Jack as we hadn’t since we had met and written [2017 single] ‘Disconnect’. And I love it. I’m very happy it’s on my album. It’s lovely and jubilant—it’s just a beautiful love song. I’m very open to collaborations now, but for some reason people don’t really approach me [laughs]. We reached out to several people for this album, actually but they all said no! [more laughter]”
“Enjoy Your Life”
“This is an anti-perfectionist song. I’m a massive list ticker, and one day I realised I was never going to tick everything off my list because the next day new things always appear. Life is not perfect and you shouldn’t try and make so. The weird thing is that when I wrote this—and a lot of the songs here—I was in such an unhappy place. I’d completely lost my bearings. So I was writing this song as a message to myself. These are self-motivating songs for me.”
“True”
“The ethos of the song is about being true to your nature. I imagined singing it with friends for some reason.”
“To Be Human”
“This is my favourite track on LOVE. It solved a big subject that I was trying to get my head around. Again, going back to that chapter where I didn’t understand life, what I should be doing in it and what my purpose was anymore. And this song tool ages to write, actually. Like, four months between writing the verse and the chorus. I just didn’t know what I was trying to say. I was just trying to paint a picture and show that we all very similar but we’re living in a political time where we’re actually being divided constantly, every day. I’m so pained by that. I think it’s an awful way to look at humanity.”
“End Of The Earth”
“This feels cinematic to me. I was writing it in mind for a film, but once I started writing it I decided I needed it on the record. It feels like the sister track to ‘To Be Human’, I think. Driving home that message of unity.”