WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

Tracklist: Princess Of Power; Butterfly; Cuntissimo; Rollercoaster; Cupid’s Girl; Metallic Stallion; Je Ne Sais Quoi; Digital Fantasy; Everybody Knows I’m Sad; Hello Kitty; I >3 You; Adult Girl; Final Boss

How To Be A Heartbreaker is 1 of Marina’s (formerly of And The Diamonds fame) best known hits and now she appears to have come full circle and released a break-up album.

• Read on for reasons including how there’s plenty of the camp melodrama here that made Marina so popular with a gay audience

Princess Of Power is written and co-produced by Marina with American producer CJ Baran and the title track sports 70s disco zaps and whooshes while reminding of the best Pet Shop Boys.

Sample lyrics include: ‘A tale as old as time, a story just like mine, you’ve been hurt by those who were supposed to treat you right.’

And the rather more positive: ‘I’m gonna change my whole life. I’ve had a revelation, just had to leave you behind.’

It’s the title track of her independently released 6th album distributed through BMG and the 1st since she left Atlantic Records, her home for 14 years.

We doubt the title of recent single Cuntissimo has helped gain it radio play and the decision to blow the video budget on it also seems a curious 1 because its root is such an unbroadcastable word.

Artistically though the sentiment fits perfectly with the album’s theme and it’s 1 of the most carefree and overstated electro bangers there.

More commercially viable are its predecessors Cupid’s Girl and Butterfly which showcase Marina’s at times almost operatic vocal range.

What Butterfly offers is the lyrical opportunity for our heroine to ‘spread my wings’ and ‘just fly’.

There’s also real poetry in this freedom of expression: ‘Red, gold, orange, white, green, violet too. Too bad you’ll never see the colours inside me. To become a butterfly, parts of me had to die. Spread my wings in the golden light and I fly … I fly.’

Is the break-up more than just with Marina’s record company?

What’s certain is despite the need for a little reining in there’s plenty of the camp melodrama here that has made Marina so popular particularly with a gay audience. And just to prove it, almost at the album’s close, appears something so joyful you can imagine Kylie doing it (watch and listen below).

Princess Of Power proves there’s plenty of positivity and life in Marina even after her break-up.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Marina Tickets
• Have you seen a Marina show before and what did you think of this album? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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