Anya Marina - Queen of the Night (2020)

Anya Marina sings like she is floating in the middle of the pool, while a party surrounds her. She lets the water drift the body of her voice, while she drifts inward to her own rippling thoughts. Out September 25, Queen of The Night shimmeringly embodies all the times you were alone in a crowded room or when you stared into space as conversations abound.

Anya Marina’s style is very distinct and retro. She feels like a starry combination of Marina & The Diamonds with Cults. Her vocality fizzles like soda pop: sweet, frothed, and refreshing. Her delivery is subtly emotional; with each track pleading for a lover to show her tenderness. In some ways, I have grown to see that going “retro” is also about singing for someone’s touch and understanding. The songs of old had a core theme of nostalgia based on really wanting a lover to be loving. It is a plea we don’t, usually, hear anymore in music because “self-love” is the biggest theme.
From “Last Word” to “Pretty Vacant,” the album feels immersive; produced to make Anya Marina’s voice the biggest, dreamiest instrument of all. She truly does have a whimsical quality to her vocals, which furthers her record like a novel. Each song is a chapter in the search of a young woman for a sense of love and reality. Yet, there is a cinematic haunting to her soundscapes that make her feel as meta as a Charlie Kaufman film. She is the lead of her movie, and her world is both distorted and imaginative. Like most of us, love has swept her away, and in Queen of The Night she embraces it.