Marina - Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land

You may think that I post a lot of old music in this Music for the Next Generation series and... well... It's true.

I'm not that young anymore, so most of the music that has been with me for a long time can't be very recent; I'm not a time traveler, after all. The other reason... Is it me? Or is it the state of the current music industry? Is it a little bit of both? I'd wager it's a bit of both. The truth is, I don't find much current music that interesting.

But every once in a while, I stumble upon a young singer or band that I find interesting and very talented. Today, it's the Welsh singer Marina Diamandis, who is better known by her stage name (which is simply her given name): Marina.

One might say she's not that young; she's in her forties now, and her career started over 20 years ago, although her first album was released in 2010. Well, she's younger than me, and she's only recently become very famous, as far as I know. So, there is that.

I'm still getting to know her and her music, but I'm absolutely crazy about one of her songs in particular.

It's Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land.

The song was released in 2021, but I think I first heard it only two or three years ago. I don't think it was the first song of hers that I heard, though. I was vaguely familiar with Marina and the Diamonds, her original stage name for her first three albums. She changed it to just Marina between 2015 and 2019. I'm not sure exactly what year, nor that it matters at the moment.

When I first heard the song, I was fascinated by its unique sound. It was a mix of pop, electro, and rock. While it was clearly recent, it also felt like something from the 1970s. I guess it's because it definitely also has a glam rock feel, as well as a hint of disco.

Then I watched the video, and I was right; it totally plays with this mix of genres and decades.

Finally, I paid attention to the lyrics. Of course, they matched the mood as well, as they're partly philosophical and partly psychedelic.

My friend Greg said the song sounded like it was straight out of The Invisibles by Grant Morrison, one of my favorite and most influential pieces of literature (and Greg's too). I can't disagree and that would explain a lot of why I'm so into that song.

But maybe you want to listen to the song?

Here it is:

So, what do you think?

That's all for today, but I think you can expect more of Marina in the future as I'm becoming more familiar with her music.

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Until next time.

Best,

David