Froot

Untitled

Froot (stylized as FROOT) is the third studio album by Welsh singer Marina Diamandis, professionally known as Marina and the Diamonds. It was originally scheduled to be released on 3 April 2015 by Neon Gold Records and Atlantic Records, although it was ultimately released on 13 March 2015 in reaction to unauthorized internet leaks. Diamandis wrote all twelve tracks featured on the record by herself, and collaborated with producer David Kosten for their production.

Music critics commended the album's cohesive production; they further applauded Diamandis for her vocal delivery. The "Froot of the Month" campaign saw five songs ("Froot", "Happy", "Immortal", "I'm a Ruin", and "Forget") released on a monthly basis in anticipation of the record. "Froot", "Happy", and "I'm a Ruin" are also official singles from the record. Froot will be further promoted by the international Neon Nature Tour, which began in March 2015.

Background

"Maybe I was ready to change. Maybe I was ready to leave a lot of things I'd held onto in the past behind. I don't know if that happens to other people when they hit a certain age, or maybe some people don't even have those issues to begin with. Perhaps it's not very common, but I know that it was important for my future."

- Diamandis on Froot

Diamandis announced that she was writing material for her third album in February 2013, although she confirmed in a Facebook Q&A session with her fans that material for the album was written from July 2012 onwards.

In an interview with The Line Of Best Fit, Diamandis speaks of the past record and the new one. She said that as soon as she finished the record and "Primadonna" came out, she already knew what she wanted to do with the third record. Electra Heart (2012) came with a list of production and writing credits, but for the new record she preferred the company of one producer as opposed to a rotating cast; on Froot, she could create "the whole thing". She felt that her confidence as a songwriter had improved by listening to her instincts and believing in her own abilities.

"Electra Heart was so incredible in that it really changed the way that I wrote, and I don't think I would've written this album if I hadn't been through that process. I would be observing people like Diplo and Dr. Luke, and I found after that was writing in a much more free way, whereas when I was writing on my own with a piano I was really just stuck to it and I became quite limited, like I'd reached a certain point. I think it was down to the fact that they were giving me instrumentals to write on, and I was like 'well I can make an instrumental...' so I started making these really shoddy ones at home and then found that completely and suddenly opened up my whole songwriting sphere in a really amazing way."

Further, she felt that there was a distance between the way she sounded in a recorded and live performance, so when she started writing the album and was looking for a producer, she explained to her A&R that she needed to be produced as a band.

Diamandis also stated that Froot wasn't entirely dark and that "it's almost celebrating being happy". The album is described as considerably "reflective" in comparison to her previous releases, and is said to be "centred around extremely different things; half of the album is about a relationship that I had to end". The singer declared the word "Fruit" was spelled as "Froot" because she liked the way it looked, especially since the "O"s could interlink.

Composition

The songs were recorded with a live band. The album opener, "Happy" was described by Idolator as being a "dreary, heartfelt ballad". In it, the singer is "laying her emotions bare above the simplest, sweetest of piano melodies", her voice remaining the focus. The title track was described by critics as being quirky, and a collage of forgotten '70s and '80s club gems.

"I'm a Ruin" is a mid-tempo composition in which Diamandis reflects on life and loving herself selfishly. The tense vocals are backed by lush, throwback synths and hard-hitting drums. A critic complimented the lyrics as similar to the ones she wrote for Electra Heart (2012), while also "starkly confessional". "Better Than That" was described as "sassy" and "a future heavy-hitter, doused in wah-wah axes and classic funk and rock delvings" by The Line of Best Fit. Marina described it as "Classic Rock!". The last song, "Immortal", is a "delicate, stripped-back ballad that finds her contemplating the transitory nature of life" and one on which "the lyrics really stand out – they’re clever, direct and at times quite unnerving". A critic found this theme recurring in her "occasionally morbid oeuvre", but that she is always examining the topic in an original perspective.

Promotion

The album's title track, "Froot", premiered on Diamandis' birthday, 10 October 2014, and was released digitally on 11 November 2014. The track listing was confirmed on 9 November 2014, whilst the album cover was unveiled the following day.

Froot of the Month

Diamandis had confirmed that six songs will be released before the album's release, one each month up until 6 April 2015, calling this strategy the "Froot of the Month." After the internet leak and subsequent release of the album, fans speculated that this would be cut short to five songs, but despite this, the final song will still be released on its planned date. "Froot" was the first of these releases, and was followed by "Happy" in December. The two were released as a limited 7" vinyl single. "Immortal" was released in January, "I'm a Ruin" in February and "Forget" in March. Over the final twelve days before the albums release, each song (in the same order they appear on the track list) was released and promoted through a variety of outlets.

After questioning about the "Froot of the Month" strategy, Diamandis tweeted "I came up with the 'Froot of the Month' strategy to enable me to release the music I wanted to, as opposed to what might work commercially."

The Neon Nature Tour

Diamandis also has several large profile performances lined up for the first part of 2015, such as the Governor's Ball in New York City between the 5 and 7 June. Other performances include Coachella Festival in April and the Lollapalooza Festival in August. After announcing a number of festival dates, in February Diamandis announced the first dates of her third headlining tour, The Neon Nature Tour. In an interview with The Guardian, Diamandis stated that her hopes for the merchandise stand for The Neon Nature Tour included scratch and sniff t-shirts, eye shadow and nail varnish modeled after Diamandis' colour palette, and glow-in-the-dark t-shirts so that audience members can wear them and be a part of the show. The stage decoration for the festival performances was described by Diamandis as an "electric garden, with luminous flowers and shiny fruit", though the debut of said setup during Lollapalooza Brasil wound up cancelled due to flight delays.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	77/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Boston Globe	mixed
Digital Spy
DIY
Entertainment Weekly	A-
The Guardian
The Irish Times
The Observer
Sputnikmusic
State
Sunday Express

Froot received positive response from contemporary music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on nine professional reviews. Martin Townsend of the Sunday Express described Diamandis as a "pop enigma", complimenting her sound "which comprises few of the usual R’n’B/pop clichés" and called the album "never less than enthralling," parallelizing it to "True Blue-era Madonna." Michael Cragg of The Observer described Froot as "a cohesive pop album that doesn’t just rely on a couple of big singles," with particular praise focused on the deep introspection present throughout the record. Sarah Jamieson of DIY wrote that Froot "finds [Diamandis] at her most accomplished and intriguing", while saluting her as "untamed by genre, unbothered by coolness and unhindered by people-pleasing" and eventually hailed the album as "the jewel in her crown." Isabella Biedeharn of Entertainment Weekly noticed the shift in Diamandis' sound, saying that it compliments her voice "which swings from voluptuous alto to fluttering soprano in one swoop" and described the album as "good fun, [...] with its smirking quips [...] and bubbling beats." Tony Clayton-Lea of The Irish Times applauded the diversity of the record's arrangements, noticing that they vary "from polite club bangers [...] to stripped-back ballads [...] to glorious pop," and stated that "what connects everything is Diamandis’s assured creative bent, which remains original, singular and ridiculously poptastic." Matt Collar of AllMusic found that the album "combines everything that was uniquely tantalizing, and pugnaciously feminist, about her debut, while also retaining just enough of the enthusiastic pop hooks and dance beats of Electra Heart to keep things from getting too serious" and defined it as "an arch, swaggeringly impressive album that balances its pop sweetness with a deep-rooted maturity." Laurence Day of The Line of Best Fit described Froot as "an anthology of astute nihilistic, existentialist discussions" and called it "one of the most complex pop albums of recent years." Rory Cashin of State felt that the album is "far more focussed" than its predecessor, and described Diamandis as "that emotionally intelligent outsider who knew how to perfectly articulate those weird thoughts and reactions we all have but would never admit to". He concluded by stating that "with Froot, we’ve got to know Marina a little better, and through that, we know ourselves a little better, too."

Lisa Wright of Digital Spy gave a moderate review and noticed a problem of identity in the album, saying that "there's much on Froot to love and even the tracks that dip into oft-chartered waters still have a playful spark that's hard to dislike, but three albums in, it's still difficult to see where Marina's collage of influence fits in pop's spectrum." Caroline Sullivan of The Guardian called Froot "a record of intense highs and lows," which includes "a range of styles that don’t always join up well," however she remarked that "if you allow yourself to be swept into [Diamandis'] world, it’s an intriguing place." Marc Hirsh of The Boston Globe described Diamandis as "a curious specimen, seeming silly on the macro scale but revealing herself a more canny artist upon closer inspection — and then, when you look closer still, becoming silly again," and noted that some tracks "fall flat" and "mistake quirk for personality," but ultimately felt that "a few slices of “FROOT” are exactly ripe enough."

Commercial performance

In the US, Froot debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200, moving over 46,000 equivalent album units (with 43,000 being pure album sales). The album reached the top 10 on the albums charts in 5 other countries : 6 in Canada, 4 in Ireland, 10 in the UK, 9 in Scotland. Worldwide, it is her best charting album to date, she scored her best peak ever in New Zealand and Australia reaching 12. The album sold 69,000 copies in its first week worldwide.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Marina Diamandis. All songs produced by Diamandis and David Kosten

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Happy"	4:03
2.	"Froot"	5:31
3.	"I'm a Ruin"	4:32
4.	"Blue"	4:14
5.	"Forget"	4:09
6.	"Gold"	4:14
7.	"Can't Pin Me Down"	3:25
8.	"Solitaire"	4:37
9.	"Better Than That"	4:36
10.	"Weeds"	4:07
11.	"Savages"	4:16
12.	"Immortal"	5:21
Total length:		53:09

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of FROOT.

• Marina Diamandis – vocals, keyboards (all tracks)
• James Ahwai – bass (tracks 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12)
• Keith Bayley – guitar (tracks 5, 10, 12)
• Sam Coldy – artwork
• Jason Cooper – drums (tracks 1-5, 7-12)
• Fyfe Dangerfield – guitar (track 9)
• Mo Hausler – additional engineering
• Lewis Hopkin – mastering (all tracks)
• Jess Keeley – management
• David Kosten – keyboards, percussion, programming, engineering (all tracks), mixing (track 2)
• Chris McGrath – bass (track 11)
• Jeremy Pritchard – bass (tracks 1, 3, 4, 9)
• Alexander Robertshaw –guitar (tracks 1-9, 11)
• Charlotte Rutherford – portraits

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	12
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)	38
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	92
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	61
Canadian Albums (Billboard)	6
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)	19
French Albums (SNEP)	78
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	24
Irish Albums (IRMA)	4
Italian Albums (FIMI)	68
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	21
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	12
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)	31
Scottish Albums (OCC)	9
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	48
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	10
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)	27
UK Albums (OCC)	10
US Billboard 200	8
US Digital Albums (Billboard)	4
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)	21

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label	Ref.
Australia	13 March 2015	CD LP digital download	Warner
Germany
Ireland			Neon Gold Atlantic
United Kingdom
United States	16 March 2015
Brazil			Warner
Italy	17 March 2015	CD digital download
Mexico		Digital download
Brazil	26 March 2015	CD

References

http://en.emelvi.eu/marina-and-the-diamonds-froot