MARINA Tickets

Get the album Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land here

Welsh singer-songwriter MARINA – whose full name is Marina Lambrini Diamandis – was born in Brynmawr and grew up in the nearby village of Pandy with dreams of becoming a star. After writing her first song at the age of 18, she moved to London where she took dance lessons and signed up for a singing course, before pursuing a music degree at Middlesex University.

Diamandis created the stage name Marina And The Diamonds in 2005, with the phrase “And The Diamonds” referring to her fans and not a backing band. A solo artist, she wrote and produced her first EP Mermaid Vs Sailor in 2007, and then self-released and sold it on her Myspace page. The following year, she was signed by Warner Music Group’s 679 Recordings label.

In 2009, Diamandis came to prominence after releasing her debut single Obsessions; performing at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds festivals; and placing second in BBC’s Sound Of 2010 poll behind Ellie Goulding.

Preceded by the lead singles Mowgli’s Road and Hollywood, Marina And The Diamonds’ debut album The Family Jewels came out in 2010, landing at No.5 on the UK albums chart. For the next 18 months, she hit the road with The Family Jewels Tour, performing extensively at home and throughout Australia, Europe and North America.

Evolving from the new wave musical style of her first album, 2012’s No.2-charting Electra Heart was a concept album tinged with electro-pop and exploring topics of love and identity. It was woven around the title character “Electra Heart”, who represented female archetypes in popular culture.

Diamandis wrote all the songs and collaborated with producer David Kosten (Bat For Lashes, Everything Everything) on her third album Froot. She promoted it with the “Froot Of The Month”, one song revealed each month before the album’s official release in autumn 2015.

In 2018, she announced she would be dropping “And The Diamonds” and begin recording music simply as MARINA. Her first full-length album in four years, LOVE+FEAR, followed in 2019. It included a collaboration with Clean Bandit on the track Baby.

Along with her most popular singles ­– Primadonna, How To Be A Heartbreaker, Oh No! and Radioactive – MARINA is known for joyous live shows and her retro-meets-modern chic fashion sense, which she has said was inspired by women like Sophia Loren, Gwen Stefani and Shirley Manson.

In early 2021, MARINA unveiled the title track and Purge The Poison from her fifth album Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land, which arrived on 11 June 2021. Having again self-penned all the songs, she co-produced them alongside James Flanigan (Dua Lipa, Carly Rae Jepsen) and Jennifer Decilveo (Andra Day, Hinds). To support Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land, MARINA also announced UK tour dates for May 2022.

MARINA’s 2022 UK tour dates

• 17 May 2022 – Edinburgh Corn Exchange
• 20 May 2022 – O2 Apollo Manchester
• 21 May 2022 – Refectory, Leeds
• 22 May 2022 – O2 Academy Brixton, London