Recorded in Brooklyn by producer Dan Chen and mixed by John Agnello (Kurt Vile, Dinosaur Jr., Come), Marina is the debut record from Brooklyn-based solo artist Eddi Front. It features nine original tracks written and performed by Front, although her father, a professional violinist, does appear on ‘Sing Sing’ as well as the album’s first single ‘Goldie’.
Whilst I am not inclined to start off with a negative point, ‘Goldie’ happens to be the opening song meaning that I must begin on a bit of a downer. In the background of this track there is an old school scratching vinyl noise, not uncommon on modern records. However, it does not bring the desired vintage sound I suspect it was required to create; rather it brings a demo-like feel to the song, drawing attention away from the beautiful simplicity of piano and ethereal vocals.
‘Gigantic’ would have been, in my opinion the better single. It’s clear, sad and the vocals have such a natural tone to them. This record has the feel of a break-up record and this track pinpoints so well a very specific time within that situation. The part where you have to keep telling yourself you’ll be OK, or “I’ll crawl out of this hole soon enough”, as Front puts it.
Track eight, ‘Pumps’, feels like the second part. When you are angry, wondering if the whole thing was a lie but literally give no fucks at the same time. She captures this feeling so well with her lyrics here: “I will not track you down, ask where you went sleeping… / I’ll just let this thing die.”
In between the songs of heartbreak are a few rather strange tracks, ‘Texas’ being the most baffling of all. It starts out messy, like someone is slumped over a piano in a bar, trying to remember how to play. As it goes on, it begins to sound like she is singing about the life and times of characters in an obscure TV crime show; an intriguing yet confusing idea. ‘Prayer’ is also in this category; it’s extremely difficult to make out what she is saying at any point in the song and the distorted guitar makes the whole thing feel like a home recording.
’Elevator’ however has a much cleaner sound overall; the piano is light, almost fresh sounding and Front’s vocals come across more natural. The major piano chords coupled with Front’s sad words gives an air of Regina Spektor or, dare I say Patti Smith to the piece. I especially enjoy when her Brooklyn accent pushes through the floaty niceties of its surroundings giving the song a bit of originality and attitude.
Generally, Marina is a mixture of well written piano pieces and a few not-so-great lyrics coupled with brilliant one liners and confusing amalgamations of rough guitar and light keys. Whilst I am not convinced that this EP is the best representation of her work, I believe Front to be talented and would definitely be interested to see what she does next.