Arguably known as her best album, Welsh singer-songwriter Marina and the Diamonds released her second studio album Electra Heart in 2012. Electra Heart reached popularity with singles like “Primadonna” and “How to Be a Heartbreaker”. Using Tumbr and other social media as a platform for promoting the album, she was able to gain recognition and a strong fan base.

Marina wrote the album as a twisted love story of her character, Electra Heart. Within fourteen tracks, Marina is able to tell us the dark side of love, like cheating, lust, deceit, and the struggle of finding yourself in others. The song “The State of Dreaming” is the backbone of Electra Heart’s action. With lyrics like “If only you knew my dear/ How I live my life in fear/ If only you knew my dear/ How I know my time is near” We see that, like her, no one lives a perfect life and ultimately some people give up on making life as good as their dreams. In songs like “Teen Idle” and “Valley of the Dolls”, she is able to express the vulnerability of being heartbroken and unaccepted in this time and day. These songs highlight the depressing emotions we all fear and try to fix.

Marina has a subtlety in her lyrics that makes each song very meaningful, but easy to sing along to. The electro-pop sound makes it comparable with the music of influential pop stars like Britney Spears and Katy Perry. Marina uses elements like a heavy beat and an abundance of minor chords to bring out the emotional melodrama the lyrics portray.

The album faces a few problems. One big turnoff for most is how angsty the songs sound as if Marina is trying too hard to be emotional. Also, the album has some mature themes that make some songs slightly uncomfortable to listen to. If I had to choose a favorite, I would choose the final track “Fear and Loathing” as it helps give the album a conclusion .

Though this album is my favorite of all time, I give Electra Heart an unbiased 7.5/10.