Love + Fear

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Love + Fear
A greyscale photograph of Marina gazing into the camera. Above her, the album's title and her name are placed in black lettering.
Studio album by
Marina
Released26 April 2019[a]
Recorded2017–2018
Genre
Length56:16
LabelAtlantic
Producer
Marina chronology
Froot
(2015) 		Love + Fear
(2019) 		Love + Fear (Acoustic)
(2019)
Singles from Love + Fear
  1. "Handmade Heaven"
    Released: 8 February 2019
  2. "Superstar"
    Released: 1 March 2019
  3. "Orange Trees"
    Released: 22 March 2019
  4. "To Be Human"
    Released: 8 April 2019
  5. "Karma"
    Released: 29 August 2019

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.

Love + Fear Tour (10.04.2019)[28]

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[]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?5.4/10[38]
Metacritic62/100[32]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars
Clash7/10[33]
The Independent3/5 stars[34]
The Line of Best Fit7/10[35]
NME3/5 stars[36]
Pitchfork5.4/10[37]
Q2/5 stars
The Irish Times 3/5 stars

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[]

Love + Fear – Love
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Handmade Heaven"Marina DiamandisJoel Little3:30
2."Superstar"
3:54
3."Orange Trees"
Görres3:08
4."Baby" (Clean Bandit featuring Marina and Luis Fonsi)
3:25
5."Enjoy Your Life"
  • Holter
  • Görres
3:36
6."True"
  • Diamandis
  • Parmenius
  • Holter
  • Görres
Görres3:29
7."To Be Human"DiamandisLittle4:06
8."End of the Earth"
Flannigan3:41
Total length:28:32
Love + Fear – Fear
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
9."Believe in Love"
  • Diamandis
  • Görres
Görres3:33
10."Life Is Strange"
  • Diamandis
  • Little
Little3:17
11."You"
  • Diamandis
  • Patterson
  • Janiak
  • Patterson
  • de Jong
3:32
12."Karma"
  • Diamandis
  • Patterson
  • Berger
  • McMahon
  • Rabin
  • Patterson
  • Ralph
3:24
13."Emotional Machine"
de Jong3:16
14."Too Afraid"
de Jong3:23
15."No More Suckers"
3:15
16."Soft to Be Strong"
de Jong3:47
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[]

  1. ^ 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[]

  1. ^ "Marina unveils political montage video for 'To Be Human'". DIY. 8 April 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Life Lessons with MARINA". Retrieved 11 March 2019.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Yeung, Neil. "AllMusic Review by Neil Z. Yeung". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  6. ^ White, Caitlin. "The Best Pop Albums Of 2019". UPROXX. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  7. ^ Sullivan, Caroline (7 May 2019). "Marina review - pom-poms lightsabers and striking pop showtunes". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  8. ^ "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 ✨