In aid of Mencap
In June, Marina Diamandis created a Tumblr under her new pseudonym Electra Heart. It showed only one photo: a grainy Photobooth shot of the singer wearing a bobbed platinum wig. Five months later, with two videos ('Fear and Loathing' and 'Radioactive') showing her transformation into the jaded, fame-hungry Electra Heart, Marina walks on stage in Hackney to debut her new persona live. She is fake-tanned and spangled, with boobs spilling out of her backless halterneck. Her opening gambit? "Lying on a fake beach, you'll never get a tan."
Marina's not the only incentive to schlep through the back streets of East London tonight, though. Pop kids and gig-circuit regulars are assembled in St. John-at-Hackney Church for a three-tiered evening of forward-thinking pop in aid of Mencap Music. First up is Marina's 679 labelmate Spark, strutting across the stage with blonde pomp, hotpants and ghetto gold: Desperately Seeking Susan, but with pipes that Madonna would kill for. 'Revolving' is lilting string-laden pop fitting somewhere between Patrick Wolf and Sky Ferreira, with extra stack-heeled swagger performed live. Her hooky, assertive chants echo through the church's domed ceilings, but with only one 18-month old single to her name you just hope that Spark isn't stuck in artist-development hell for much longer.
Icona Pop are Swedish, and therefore were born with electropop pulsing through their veins. Tonight is their first gig, and they emerge as Jodorowsky heroines in black cloaks and leather, beating a floor tom and crossing drumsticks like intergalactic Morris dancers. Their full-bodied loopy synth songs - a glorious melange of ABBA, glitchy electronica and T.a.t.U - sound massive, and their performance is mesmerising. 'Manners' has a mind-blowing 'Crystalline'-style drum'n'bass breakdown 30 seconds from the end, while 'Lovers to Friends' is the kind of expertly-constructed pop you wish they'd dole out to students at the Brits School. Currently working with Richard X on their debut album, and with the incredible 'Nights Like This' EP out now, Icona Pop look set to rule the blogs (and god willing, the charts) in 2012.
It's Marina's first performance since last winter, and - blonde 'do aside - it doesn't show. "I'm so happy to be doing gigs again!", she beams after reeling off the impeccable set opening of an acoustic 'Radioactive' and 'Obsessions', where the crowd's singalong to the unlikely opening lines ("Sunday, wake up, give me a cigarette/Last night’s love affair is looking vulnerable in my bed") threatens to drown out her own operatic vocals. Backed by a four-piece band and string-quartet, Marina sashays like a 30s barroom dolly to her signature song 'I Am Not A Robot', a heartfelt Oh-Conformism-Up-Yours mantra which sounds as lovely as ever. New song 'The Starring Role' is the flipside of the same coin, a skittering doom-pop mid-tempo about playing second fiddle to another's stardom. Of all the new songs it's the strongest performed live, and an exciting signpost for Marina's nascent Electra Heart project. Belt-a-thon favourites 'Are You Satisfied?' and 'Hollywood' are greeted with rapt, Stars In Their Eyes-style applause, and her lush spine-tingling voice makes this damp venue feel as intimate as a members lounge.
Marina closes the show (and it is a show) with the cool, cavernous 'Fear and Loathing' and 'Shampain'. "Tears and pain, now I feel celestial" she sings, haloed by light in front of the church's gilded altar. Tonight she asserts herself as an artist who - like second-album flourisher Florence Welch - has picked up the exquisite ephemera of her debut and refined it into an assured vision. Electra Heart, it's a pleasure to meet you.
Words by Owen Myers
Photos by Helen Kennedy
For a photo gallery of the event, click HERE.
Marina's not the only incentive to schlep through the back streets of East London tonight, though. Pop kids and gig-circuit regulars are assembled in St. John-at-Hackney Church for a three-tiered evening of forward-thinking pop in aid of Mencap Music. First up is Marina's 679 labelmate Spark, strutting across the stage with blonde pomp, hotpants and ghetto gold: Desperately Seeking Susan, but with pipes that Madonna would kill for. 'Revolving' is lilting string-laden pop fitting somewhere between Patrick Wolf and Sky Ferreira, with extra stack-heeled swagger performed live. Her hooky, assertive chants echo through the church's domed ceilings, but with only one 18-month old single to her name you just hope that Spark isn't stuck in artist-development hell for much longer.
Icona Pop are Swedish, and therefore were born with electropop pulsing through their veins. Tonight is their first gig, and they emerge as Jodorowsky heroines in black cloaks and leather, beating a floor tom and crossing drumsticks like intergalactic Morris dancers. Their full-bodied loopy synth songs - a glorious melange of ABBA, glitchy electronica and T.a.t.U - sound massive, and their performance is mesmerising. 'Manners' has a mind-blowing 'Crystalline'-style drum'n'bass breakdown 30 seconds from the end, while 'Lovers to Friends' is the kind of expertly-constructed pop you wish they'd dole out to students at the Brits School. Currently working with Richard X on their debut album, and with the incredible 'Nights Like This' EP out now, Icona Pop look set to rule the blogs (and god willing, the charts) in 2012.
It's Marina's first performance since last winter, and - blonde 'do aside - it doesn't show. "I'm so happy to be doing gigs again!", she beams after reeling off the impeccable set opening of an acoustic 'Radioactive' and 'Obsessions', where the crowd's singalong to the unlikely opening lines ("Sunday, wake up, give me a cigarette/Last night’s love affair is looking vulnerable in my bed") threatens to drown out her own operatic vocals. Backed by a four-piece band and string-quartet, Marina sashays like a 30s barroom dolly to her signature song 'I Am Not A Robot', a heartfelt Oh-Conformism-Up-Yours mantra which sounds as lovely as ever. New song 'The Starring Role' is the flipside of the same coin, a skittering doom-pop mid-tempo about playing second fiddle to another's stardom. Of all the new songs it's the strongest performed live, and an exciting signpost for Marina's nascent Electra Heart project. Belt-a-thon favourites 'Are You Satisfied?' and 'Hollywood' are greeted with rapt, Stars In Their Eyes-style applause, and her lush spine-tingling voice makes this damp venue feel as intimate as a members lounge.
Marina closes the show (and it is a show) with the cool, cavernous 'Fear and Loathing' and 'Shampain'. "Tears and pain, now I feel celestial" she sings, haloed by light in front of the church's gilded altar. Tonight she asserts herself as an artist who - like second-album flourisher Florence Welch - has picked up the exquisite ephemera of her debut and refined it into an assured vision. Electra Heart, it's a pleasure to meet you.
Words by Owen Myers
Photos by Helen Kennedy
For a photo gallery of the event, click HERE.
Marina And The Diamonds
