Welsh Singer Marina Diamandis Opens Up on ‘Froot’

— -- She sees the world through a different lens. One that is vibrantly colorful, ever growing and constantly evolving. Her latest album entitled Froot is a true testament to this unique vision and it is unlike anything else she’s done before.

Welsh singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis better known as her stage name, Marina and the Diamonds, has never followed the crowd and by nature, has seemed to steer clear of convention. Even her inspiration to become a musician was a bit different than most, almost a little backwards. “The reason I wanted to become a singer had nothing to do with music or even voice… it was more that I saw it as an interesting way to...express bigger ideas about society, things that were troubling me and inspiring me at the same time.” Playfully adding “luckily I could sing in tune so I became a singer!” she said.

To Diamandis it was always about the expression and self-discovery. Before she taught herself the keyboard or knew how to play an instrument she saw her words in music, her poetic lyrics as songs. “When I started to learn keyboard I started to put stuff to music and it is genuinely the only thing I’ve ever done in my life where it felt completely natural like it was kind of second nature to me and I haven’t found anything else that I feel the same about.”

When it came to her newest album Froot, in true Marina and the Diamonds style, she forwent tradition and did something different. In order to escape the commercial pressure that oftentimes accompanies an artist when choosing which singles to release Diamandis did something completely new. She explained, “I came up with a strategy called Froot of the month, which basically proposed...a new Froot each month and with that Froot you would get a whole visual world that accompanies it.” The Froots are her songs and these “visual elements” include everything from digital videos to scratch and sniff vinyl when you purchase the album.

“It’s completely geared around fan involvement and it’s not a cheesy record label type of thing--it actually has been really enjoyable and I think it has been a really unique experience for me," Diamandis said.

This latest album not only reflects her innovation as an artist but it highlights her growth as an individual. Her lyrics weave us through a story, we meet someone who has overcome and who has learned from her experiences yet remained unhindered by judgments and is finally able to live her own truths. One of her biggest realizations? “I feel like people, myself in the past, feel like happiness is something that comes to you and it isn’t really, it’s something that you choose. The only thing you can do is be honest with yourself and that’s how you can progress.”