Love + Fear
Love + Fear | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 26 April 2019[a] | |||
Recorded | 2017–2018 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 56:16 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Producer | ||||
Marina chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Love + Fear | ||||
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Love + Fear (stylised in all caps) is the fourth studio album by Welsh singer Marina Diamandis and her first under the mononym Marina. It was released in full on 26 April 2019 by Atlantic Records.
The album was supported by the singles "Handmade Heaven", "Superstar", "Orange Trees", "To Be Human", and "Karma".[1][2] It also includes the Clean Bandit collaboration "Baby". The album was announced alongside a tour, which visited the US, Canada, and Europe, which began in April 2019 and concluded in November.[3] It is musically a pop,[4] dance-pop,[5] synth-pop,[6] and electropop[7] record. Diamandis released an acoustic companion EP, Love + Fear (Acoustic), on 13 September 2019.[8]
Background and production[]
After the release of Froot, Diamandis took a break from touring to rest and find new creative inspiration.[9] In June 2016, Diamandis told Fuse that she had begun writing new material for upcoming songs.[10] In December 2016, electronic group Clean Bandit confirmed that "Disconnect", a song they had performed with Diamandis at the 2015 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, would be released on their new album;[11] it was released as a single in June 2017 and she performed it with them at Glastonbury.[12]
To mark a new stage in her career, Diamandis announced via Twitter in 2018 that she would be dropping her "and the Diamonds" moniker to release music as "Marina" (stylised "MARINA"), explaining that "It took me well over a year to figure out that a lot of my identity was tied up in who I was as an artist... and there wasn’t much left of who I was."[13] In November 2018, a second collaboration with Clean Bandit and Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, "Baby", was released,[14] peaking at number 15 in the UK.[15]
Upon its announcement, it was revealed that the album was to be a double album and split into two eight-track collections ("Love" and "Fear"), with each collection exploring psychologist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross' theory that humans are only capable of experiencing the nominal two emotions.[16] Marina elaborated on this, saying "There are only two emotions: love and fear. All positive emotions come from love and all negative emotions from fear. From love flows happiness, contentment, peace and joy. From fear comes anger, hate, anxiety and guilt. It's true that there only two primary emotions: love and fear, but it is more accurate to say that there is only love or fear for we cannot feel these two emotions together at exactly the same time. They are opposites. If we are in fear, we are not in a place of love. When we are in love, then we are not in a place of fear."[17]
In an interview in June 2019, Marina spoke about the conception of the title and stated, "I think [Love +Fear] can both be motivating forces... I mean there's a reason why we feel fearful - it’s from evolutionary reasons. We need fear to survive, we need love but... I think because this whole chapter of my life has had like a psychological backdrop it was a very fitting universal title. I didn't write with this concept in mind I just wrote ready freely. I didn't even know if I was going to do an album I was just writing for the joy of it and then at the end I was like what should I name it? ... I went through and so what the main themes were... [Love+ Fear] kept jumping out on me."[18] It's the first album Marina wasn't involved in the production of any song. When asked about the collaborations, Diamandis said, "It's really important as a writer to feel like I'm excited about doing new things... that's why I collaborated a lot on this record... Orange Trees, I never would’ve wrote on my own".[19]
Release and promotion[]
On 31 January 2019, Diamandis teased the album by posting a picture on Instagram with the caption "8 Days".[20] The day after, she revealed in an interview the new album would come out some time in early 2019.[13] On 6 February 2019, it was revealed the title of the lead single of the album would be entitled "Handmade Heaven".[21] The single was released on digital platforms on 8 February 2019. A music video for the track directed by Sophie Muller was released concurrently with the song.[22][23] The album was announced on Instagram on 14 February 2019, with Diamandis revealing it comprised "two 8-track collections that form a set".[24] She released two cover artworks, one for each eight-track collection, and a set of tour dates for the upcoming world tour in support of the release. Every ticket to the tour purchased online through Ticketmaster or Live Nation would include a digital copy of the album. On 4 April 2019, Diamandis released the entirety of Love ahead of schedule. Four days later, she publicly performed the single "Orange Trees" for the first time on Late Night With Seth Meyers.[25] On 4 September 2019, she performed the single "Karma" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. All singles released prior to Karma were part of the album's first half, Love. The song "Handmade Heaven" is featured on the soundtrack to the 2019 football simulation game "eFootball Pro Evolution Soccer 2020".
Tour[]
The Love + Fear Tour ran from 29 April to 18 November 2019 and saw Marina play across the United Kingdom, North America, and Europe.[26] The tour included Spring and Fall dates, as well as festival dates across various countries during the Summer. The tour was opened by various artists, including DAYA, Allie X,[27] and Broods.
On 28 May 2019, Diamandis announced a further five UK dates for a "part 2" of the tour.[29] On 17 June 2019, Diamandis announced additional European dates intertwined with the second part of the UK tour.[30] On 16 September 2019, Diamandis announced two extra concerts in Madrid and Amsterdam.[31]
The tour would differ from previous tours as Diamandis did not have a band. Instead, she toured with four dancers/back up singers. When asked about the tour, she stated, "[The tour] is contemporary...the format is like a contemporary dance or theatre show."[18] The stage would be slanted and everything was white so projections could show up. This was also the first time Diamandis had a choreography centric stage show.
The costumes were inspired by Beyonce's old stage shows. Diamandis stated, "I wanted to have something that was really powerful and female".[18]
Tour dates[]
Date | City | Country | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
United Kingdom | |||
29 April 2019 | Newcastle | England | O2 Academy |
30 April 2019 | Glasgow | Scotland | O2 Academy |
3 May 2019 | London | England | Royal Albert Hall |
7 May 2019 | Bournemouth | O2 Academy | |
9 May 2019 | Birmingham | O2 Academy | |
10 May 2019 | Manchester | O2 Apollo | |
North America | |||
10 May 2019 | Boston | United States | Boston Calling |
28 June 2019 | New York | United States | Rainbow Room |
Europe | |||
4 July 2019 | Gdynia | Poland | Open'er Festival |
6 July 2019 | Roskilde | Denmark | Roskilde Festival |
7 July 2019 | Turku | Finland | Ruisrock |
12 July 2019 | Madrid | Spain | Mad Cool Festival |
13 July 2019 | Benicàssim | Spain | Festival Internacional de Benicàssim |
18 July 2019 | Oeiras | Portugal | NOS Alive! |
20 July 2019 | Suffolk | England | Latitude Festival |
North America | |||
10 September 2019 | Toronto | Canada | Rebel |
11 September 2019 | Montreal | Mtelus | |
13 September 2019 | Boston | United States | Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion |
14 September 2019 | Philadelphia | The Met | |
16 September 2019 | New York | Summerstage, Central Park | |
18 September 2019 | Washington, D.C. | The Anthem | |
20 September 2019 | Nashville | Ryman Auditorium | |
21 September 2019 | Atlanta | Coca-Cola Roxy | |
23 September 2019 | Chicago | Aragon Ballroom | |
24 September 2019 | Minneapolis | Orpheum Theatre | |
26 September 2019 | Houston | Revention Music Center | |
27 September 2019 | Dallas | The Bomb Factory | |
28 September 2019 | Austin | Moody Theatre | |
30 September 2019 | Denver | Mission Ballroom | |
1 October 2019 | Salt Lake City | Union Event Center | |
4 October 2019 | Los Angeles | Greek Theatre | |
5 October 2019 | San Francisco | The Masonic | |
7 October 2019 | Portland | Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall | |
8 October 2019 | Seattle | Paramount Theatre | |
9 October 2019 | Vancouver | Canada | Opheum Theatre |
Europe | |||
28 October 2019 | Edinburgh | Scotland | Usher Hall |
29 October 2019 | Manchester | England | O2 Apollo |
30 October 2019 | Dublin | Ireland | Olympia |
1 November 2019 | Cardiff | Wales | Motorpoint Arena |
4 November 2019 | London | England | Eventim Apollo |
5 November 2019 | Brighton | Brighton Centre | |
8 November 2019 | Paris | France | Zenith |
10 November 2019 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Melkweg |
11 November 2019 | Tilburg | 013 | |
12 November 2019 | Antwerpen | Belgium | Trix |
14 November 2019 | Milan | Italy | Fabrique |
16 November 2019 | Athens | Greece | Piraeus 117 Academy |
18 November 2019 | Madrid | Spain | La Riviera |
Total | 48 dates |
Critical reception[]
This section needs expansion. You can help by . (May 2019) |
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 5.4/10[38] |
Metacritic | 62/100[32] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Clash | 7/10[33] |
The Independent | [34] |
The Line of Best Fit | 7/10[35] |
NME | [36] |
Pitchfork | 5.4/10[37] |
Q | |
The Irish Times |
Love + Fear received generally positive reviews from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 62 based on eight reviews, indicating "generally favourable reviews".[32]
In December 2019, The Irish Times listed "Soft to Be Strong" among the 'Best International Songs of 2019'.[39]
Track listing[]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Handmade Heaven" | Marina Diamandis | Joel Little | 3:30 |
2. | "Superstar" | 3:54 | ||
3. | "Orange Trees" |
| Görres | 3:08 |
4. | "Baby" (Clean Bandit featuring Marina and Luis Fonsi) |
|
| 3:25 |
5. | "Enjoy Your Life" |
|
| 3:36 |
6. | "True" |
| Görres | 3:29 |
7. | "To Be Human" | Diamandis | Little | 4:06 |
8. | "End of the Earth" |
| Flannigan | 3:41 |
Total length: | 28:32 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
9. | "Believe in Love" |
| Görres | 3:33 |
10. | "Life Is Strange" |
| Little | 3:17 |
11. | "You" |
|
| 3:32 |
12. | "Karma" |
|
| 3:24 |
13. | "Emotional Machine" |
| de Jong | 3:16 |
14. | "Too Afraid" |
| de Jong | 3:23 |
15. | "No More Suckers" |
|
| 3:15 |
16. | "Soft to Be Strong" |
| de Jong | 3:47 |
Total length: | 27:27 |
Notes
- The CD version of the album includes a version of "Baby" (3:42) with a guitar intro before Luis Fonsi's opening lines.
- The vinyl version of the album includes a version of "Baby" (3:41) which only features Marina and includes a guitar intro.
- "Emotional Machine" features uncredited vocals by Broods[33]
Personnel[]
Credits adapted from Tidal.[40]
Love[]
Musicians
- Marina – lead vocals (tracks 1–3, 5–8), featured vocals (track 4), backing vocals (tracks 3, 5, 6)
- Clean Bandit – lead artist (track 4)
- Luis Fonsi – featured vocals (track 4)
- Joel Little – keyboards (tracks 1, 7), drum programming (tracks 1, 7), percussion (tracks 1, 7), synthesizer (tracks 1, 7)
- Captain Cuts – keyboards (track 2), programming (track 2)
- Sam de Jong – keyboards (track 2), programming (track 2)
- Oscar Görres – keyboards (tracks 3, 5, 6), programming (tracks 3, 5, 6), percussion (tracks 3, 5, 6), guitar (tracks 5, 6), bass (track 5)
- Jack Patterson – keyboards (track 4), guitar (track 4)
- Oscar Holter – keyboards (track 5), programming (track 5), percussion (track 5), guitar (track 5), bass (track 5)
- James Flannigan – keyboards (track 8), programming (track 8), percussion (track 8), drums (track 8), violin (track 8)
- Luke Patterson – piano (track 4), percussion (track 4), additional drums (track 4), trumpet (track 4)
- Dan Grech-Marguerat – programming (tracks 5, 6, 8), additional programming (track 1)
- Erik Hassle – guitar (track 3)
- Mark Ralph – guitar (track 4)
- Nakajin – acoustic guitar (track 4)
- Grace Chatto – bass (track 4)
Technical
- Joel Little – engineering (tracks 1, 7)
- Sam de Jong – engineering (track 2)
- Alex Robinson – engineering (track 4)
- Jack Patterson – engineering (track 4)
- Mike Horner – engineering (track 4)
- Ray Charles Brown Jr – engineering (track 4)
- Ross Fortune – engineering (track 4)
- Tom AD Fuller – engineering (track 4)
- James Flannigan – engineering (track 8)
- Greg Eliason – assistant engineering (track 4)
- Dan Grech-Marguerat – mixing (tracks 1, 5, 6, 8)
- Serban Ghenea – mixing (tracks 2, 3)
- Jack Patterson – mixing (track 4)
- Mark Ralph – mixing (track 4)
- Geoff Swan – mixing (track 7)
- John Hanes – mix engineering (track 3), assistant mix engineering (track 2)
- Niko Batistini – assistant mix engineering (track 7)
- Dave Kutch – mastering (tracks 1–3, 5–8)
- Matt Deutchman – coordinating (track 8)
Fear[]
Musicians
- Marina – lead vocals (tracks 1–8), backing vocals (track 1)
- Joel Little – drum programming (track 2), keyboards (track 2), percussion (track 2), synthesizer (track 2)
- Oscar Görres – backing vocals (track 1), keyboards (track 1), percussion (track 1), programming (track 1), ukulele (track 1)
- Sam de Jong – keyboards (tracks 3, 5, 6, 8), programming (tracks 3, 5, 6, 8), guitar (tracks 6, 8), bass (track 8), drums (track 8)
- Mark Ralph – guitar (track 4), mandolin (track 4), ukulele (track 4)
- Caleb Nott – bass (track 5), percussion (track 5)
- Dan Grech-Marguerat – programming (tracks 5, 6, 8), additional programming (track 7)
- Georgia Nott – piano (track 5)
- Alex Hope – drum programming (track 7), keyboards (track 7), percussion (track 7), piano (track 7), programming (track 7)
- James Flannigan – keyboards (track 7), percussion (track 7), piano (track 7), programming (track 7)
Technical
- Dave Kutch – masterering (tracks 1–8)
- Joel Little – engineering (track 2)
- Niko Batistini – assistant mix engineering (tracks 1–3)
- Geoff Swan – mixing (tracks 1–3)
- Mark Ralph – mixing (track 4)
- Sam de Jong – engineering (tracks 5, 6, 8)
- Jack Patterson – mixing (track 4)
- Ross Fortune – assistant mix engineering (track 4)
- Tom AD Fuller – assistant mix engineering (track 4)
- Dan Grech-Marguerat – mixing (tracks 5–8)
- Matt Deuthman – coordinating (track 7)
- James Flannigan – engineering (track 7)
Charts[]
Chart (2019) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)[41] | 22 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[42] | 19 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[43] | 59 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[44] | 84 |
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[45] | 32 |
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[46] | 50 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[47] | 43 |
French Albums (SNEP)[48] | 136 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[49] | 18 |
Irish Albums (IRMA)[50] | 17 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[51] | 31 |
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[52] | 44 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[53] | 4 |
Slovak Albums (ČNS IFPI)[54] | 90 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[55] | 24 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[56] | 20 |
UK Albums (OCC)[57] | 5 |
US Billboard 200[58] | 28 |
Notes[]
- ^ The album's first half Love, including the four previously released singles, was released on 4 April 2019. Fear was released on 26 April 2019.
References[]
- ^ "Marina unveils political montage video for 'To Be Human'". DIY. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
- ^ "Life Lessons with MARINA". Retrieved 11 March 2019.
- ^ Kitchener, Shaun (14 February 2019). "Marina album and TOUR 2019: Dates, venues, tickets release, Love + Fear release date, MORE". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- ^ Firth, Abigail. "MARINA takes a bold new step on LOVE + FEAR, and it (mostly) pays off". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
- ^ Yeung, Neil. "AllMusic Review by Neil Z. Yeung". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
- ^ White, Caitlin. "The Best Pop Albums Of 2019". UPROXX. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
- ^ Sullivan, Caroline (7 May 2019). "Marina review - pom-poms lightsabers and striking pop showtunes". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
- ^ "MARINA on Twitter: "I know how much you've connected with my acoustic versions of songs in the past, SO… Friday Sept 13th I'm dropping the LOVE + FEAR acoustic EP ✨