Do you ever get that thing where you watch a video for a song you haven’t heard before, think “meh”, then listen to the song again sans video, and suddenly it all makes sense? Or is it just that I’m a man, and thus unable to concentrate on more than one thing at a time?

I only ask ‘cos of Marina & The Diamonds, whom I have been researching a wee bit lately. My Marina & The Diamonds journey went thusly:

1. Went to MySpace, listened to “Mowgli’s Road”, loved the living shit out of it.

2. Scrolled down page, watched video for “Obsessions”.

3. Got distracted by the amazing cat hoodie you see above.

4. Thought “meh”.

5. Went off and did something else while giving “Obsession” another spin.

6. Loved the living shit out of it.

That’s weird, isn’t it?

Marina and her Diamonds (if there even are any, I suspect she’s a solo type) have been getting a fair amount of attention recently, which is pretty well-timed since nowabouts is when people start decreeing what’s likely to be good n’ proper next year.

There are several things that suggest Marina & The Diamonds are likely to be “in the mix” in 2009.

Obvs, the songs. On the basis of a few tracks it seems Marina combines the dramatic delivery of an Amos or a Bush with the rambunctuousness of an Ida Maria tempered by a sense of pop fun akin to the new breed of synthy females set to rule 2009 - Ladyhawke, Little Boots, La Roux, and so on.

When I say “pop fun”, I don’t mean that this is froth - Marina is just the latest in a long line of recent artists who realise that danceable, catchy pop music doesn’t have to be vacuous, soulless drivel.

She’s signed to the mondo-hip Neon Gold label, who will be releasing “Obsessions” next year. This is a label that blogs about Two Door Cinema Club and released Passion Pit’s “Sleepyhead” this year, so it clearly knows what is and isn’t what.

On top of all this you can add the fact that Marina is quite the snarkypants - check out The Guardian’s profile of her to delight in some of her verbal slappings. Lily Allen and tooligans who ruin her set have both been soundly dissed, and we can only hope that increased exposure leads to more quality mouthiness to chuckle at.

I am really excited about music in 2009, you know. That’s a good feeling.

Listen to Marina & The Diamonds at MySpace

Here’s “Obsessions”:

Marina & The Diamonds, “Obsessions” from Neon Gold Records on Vimeo.

Possibly related:

1. Arctic Monkeys sing Diamonds Are Forever at Glastonbury 2007

2. Neon Neon single and album due out in March

3. The Kills’ “U R A Fever” video: pleasingly sleazy

4. The Kills float their “Black Balloon”

5. Annie plans to release second album herself and, er, might have been recording under a pseudonym. Maybe.

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Posted by Stuart Waterman on Thursday December 18th, 2008 at 1:45 pm