The Boston Globe - 13.09.2019

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2019 The Boston Globe G5

By Isaac Feldberg
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
“You don’t know me like you
think you do,” Marina Diaman-
dis sings on her new album,
“Love + Fear.” Though an inci-
sive rebuke when aimed at an
arrogant paramour, the line (off
cyborgified dance-cut “You”)
carries more weight in context.
Ahead of her fourth record,
the Welsh singer-songwriter —
formerly known as Marina and
the Diamonds — shortened
her stage name to Marina,
throwing the Diamonds (her
longtime nickname for fans) in-
to a social-media tailspin. But
adopting a new moniker was
never intended to slight any-
one. The singer, now 33, was
simply signaling an artistic
recalibration, designed to bring
her identities as a performer
and a person — then profound-
ly, painfully at odds — back into

harmony with each other.

For Marina, doing so meant

moving away from the cheeky,

persona-driven electro-pop that

had made her a star toward a

sound more authentically her

own. Correspondingly, “Love +

Fear” offers some of Marina’s

most serious music, with state-

ments about political unrest

(“To Be Human”) and #MeToo

in the music industry (“Kar-

ma”). But it’s, joyously, an al-

bum about learning to live

amid the chaos and finding

happiness in oneself.

Before performing Friday at

Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion,

Marina spoke about her new di-

rection and the road she trav-

eledtofindit.

Q.After your Neon Nature tour

(in support of 2015 album

“Froot”), you took three years

away from the spotlight. What

was your headspace like?

A.I’d done three albums, and

I’d been doing this for about 10

years. I felt burned out. But I

didn’t really know how to cope

with it at that time, so my brain

just processed it as, “I’m not

sure if I want to be an artist any

more.” It had dawned on me

that, in terms of my identity, I’d

never really had an integrated

sense of self. So much of my life

was threaded into my creativity

and my reputation as an artist,

so there weren’t many building

blocks outside of that.

Q.You’re known for playing

characters on your albums,

from the industry oddball (“The

Family Jewels”), to this Madon-

na figure cycling through pop-

star archetypes (“Electra

Heart”). “Love + Fear” feels dif-

ferent, more stripped-down

and personal, but also assured.

A.It’s been nice to hear that

there was this feeling of assur-

ance [on the record], because

that’s how I felt. I’d really given

up and accepted a lot of my feel-

ings by the time I did start to

write again. That made it quite

a calm-sounding album. I’ve

read comments from fans say-

ing like, “I wish she’d sing like

she did on ‘The Family Jewels.’ ”

I was 22! I felt so different emo-

tionally, and now I’m singing

from a much calmer, more

grounded place.

Q.On tracks like “Handmade

Heaven” and “Orange Trees,”

it’s clear you find nature espe-

cially calming.

A.I feel like, the more time goes

on, especially with climate

change and the way our govern-

ments are reacting to that, our

problems aren’t to do with the

things we think they are. For

example: iPhones, the Internet,

social media. The root of that

problem is our disconnection

from nature, that we’re letting

that relationship go to waste. I

don’t feel like a lot of people, in-

cluding myself, are aware of the

natural world. On an individual

level, I felt awful about that. I

want more connection with na-

ture. It’s vital to our human ex-

istence.

Q.Musicians are sometimes

hailed as world travelers, but

you spend each night at a ven-

ue, typically indoors. Did tour-

ing contribute to that discon-

nection?

A.For me, if I’ve ever felt depres-

sion, it’s been on tour — up un-

til this point, I should say, be-

cause I’ve made changes in the

way I tour, in deciding how

much I want to work each year.

The payoff is that you can pres-

ent your work to people who

are like-minded, that you can

perform, but the reality of it is

that if you don’t take breaks,

and if you don’t tour in a way

that’s conducive to mental well-

being, I don’t see how you could

maintain it.

Q.There’s also pressure, in

many creative industries, not to

slow down or surrender the

spotlight once you have it. Did

you deal with that at all?

A.We live in a culture where

you have to promote yourself

[constantly] to stay relevant or

remain in people’s minds,

whereas I never, ever cared or

thought about that. I’ve just

thought about what I want to

do. I have many fears, but that

isn’t one of them. Music is mu-

sic. If you put a good song out,

people will listen to it.

Q.What songs, for you, feel the

best to perform?

A.I start my set with “Hand-

made Heaven.” It’s such a weird

opener, because it’s not like,

“Whoa! Bang! Pop!” It’s a grow-

ing, blooming ballad, essential-

ly, but I love starting with that.

It grounds me and puts me in

the right headspace. I also love

“Superstar,” because it comes

from that calm, settled place. It

feels beautiful to perform.

Q.Visually, how do you create

that settled feeling on tour?

A.Nature really factors into how

I structured the show. That’s

the foundation of the whole

tour, showing the cycle of life in

nature. Flowers blooming,

wheat in fields, cells fusing into

each other — it starts with the

genesis of life and ends with the

decay. [Laughs] Which sounds

negative, but it’s not.

Interview was edited and

condensed. Isaac Feldberg

can be reached by email at

[email protected], or

on Twitter at @isaacfeldberg.

MATTHEW J. LEE/GLOBE STAFF/FILE

Between ‘Love + Fear,’

Marina found herself

‘I’msingingfroma

muchcalmer,

moregrounded

place....Ifyou

putagoodsong

out,peoplewill

listentoit.’

MARINA

At Rockland Trust Bank

Pavilion, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets from $29.50,

http://www.ticketmaster.com

GREAT MUSIC.

INTIMATE SETTING.

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SEPT. 29 BOMSORI KIM, violin

OCT. 20 RUSSIAN STRING

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DEC. 8 CALMUS

FEB. 3 VIENNA PIANO TRIO

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SEPT. 29 BRANFORD MARSALIS

NOV. 2 GRACE KELLY

NOV. 7 BLUE NOTE 80TH

JAMES CARTER

KANDACE SPRINGS

JAMES FRANCIES

FOLK & POP

OCT. 3 FOUR ITALIAN TENORS

OCT. 26 JESSE COOK

NOV. 10 LUCIA MICARELLI,

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NOV. 14–15 ANI DIFRANCO

2019-20 SEASONHIGHLIGHTS

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