The Family Jewels (Marina And The Diamonds Album)
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''The Family Jewels'' is the debut studio album by Welsh singer
Marina Diamandis Marina Lambrini Diamandis (; el, Μαρίνα-Λαμπρινή Διαμάντη; born 10 October 1985), known mononymously as Marina (often stylised in all caps), and previously by the stage name Marina and the Diamonds, is a Welsh singer and ...
, released under the stage name Marina and the Diamonds. It was released on 15 February 2010 by
679 Recordings 679 Artists (formally known as Sixsevenine and 679 Recordings) was a Warner Music Group-owned record label based in London, England. It was started by Nick Worthington who after leaving XL Recordings in 2001, started the company with Warner M ...
and
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
. Diamandis collaborated with several producers including
Pascal Gabriel Pascal Gabriel (born 15 December 1956) is a Belgian-born musician based in London, England and Paris, France. Background Pascal Gabriel's musical career began in 1977 in the punk rock band The Razors (bass guitar). He left Belgium for Londo ...
,
Liam Howe Liam Coverdale Howe (born 29 September 1974) is an English record producer, musician and songwriter. Since co-founding electronic music band Sneaker Pimps in 1996, he has been a producer for Lana Del Rey, Marina and the Diamonds, FKA Twigs, Ell ...
,
Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs t ...
, Richard "Biff" Stannard, and
Starsmith Finlay Dow-Smith (born 8 July 1988), known professionally as Starsmith, is a British songwriter and producer. He co-wrote and produced "Good Thing" by Zedd and Kehlani, and "I'll Be There" by Jess Glynne which went to number one in the UK and ...
during its recording. She identifies the lyrical themes as "the seduction of commercialism, modern social values, family, and female sexuality." Contemporary music critics gave ''The Family Jewels'' fairly positive reviews, with the vocal delivery dividing opinions. The record debuted at number five on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
with first-week sales of 27,618 copies. The album was eventually certified Gold by the
British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...
(BPI) and has sold 195,358 units in the United Kingdom. ''The Family Jewels'' performed moderately on international
record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often ...
s; it peaked at number 138 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United States, selling 4,000 copies its first week. ''The Family Jewels'' was supported by five singles, all of which were supplemented by accompanying music videos. " Mowgli's Road" was released on 13 November 2009, although " Hollywood" became its first charting track after reaching number 12 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. Follow-up singles "
I Am Not a Robot "I Am Not a Robot" is a song by Welsh singer Marina Diamandis, released under the stage name Marina and the Diamonds, from her debut studio album, '' The Family Jewels'' (2010). It was released digitally on 23 April 2010 and physically on 26 Apr ...
", " Oh No!" and "
Shampain "Shampain" is a song by Welsh singer Marina Diamandis, released under the stage name Marina and the Diamonds from her debut studio album, '' The Family Jewels'' (2010). It was released on 11 October 2010 as the album's fifth and final single, o ...
" respectively peaked at numbers 26, 38, and 141 in the United Kingdom. The record was additionally promoted by Diamandis' headlining
the Family Jewels Tour The Family Jewels Tour is the first major headlining concert tour by Welsh singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis, known professionally as MARINA (formerly known as Marina and the Diamonds) in support of her debut album, '' The Family Jewels''. In D ...
, which visited Australia, Europe and North America from January 2010 through December 2011.


Background

Born and raised in
South East Wales South East Wales is a loosely defined region of Wales generally corresponding to the preserved counties of Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and Gwent. Highly urbanised, it includes the cities of Cardiff and Newport as well as large towns in th ...
, Diamandis moved to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
at the age of 18 to study music, despite not having a musical background. After dropping out of four institutions and failing in auditions, she began composing her own music. After the success of her Myspace-released EP ''
Mermaid vs Sailor ''Mermaid vs Sailor'' is the first extended play by Welsh singer-songwriter Marina Diamandis, released under the stage name Marina and the Diamonds. The EP was independently released on 23 November 2007 and distributed via her official profile ...
'' in 2007, she was signed by
Neon Gold Records Neon Gold Records is a New York City-based boutique record label founded in 2008 by Derek Davies and Lizzy Plapinger. Initially operating as a vinyl-only singles label, Neon Gold has launched the debut releases and international careers of ma ...
the following year and by
679 Artists 679 Artists (formally known as Sixsevenine and 679 Recordings) was a Warner Music Group-owned record label based in London, England. It was started by Nick Worthington who after leaving XL Recordings in 2001, started the company with War ...
in October 2008. In 2009, after playing at a variety of festivals including
Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...
in the summer, she ranked in second place in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
's
Sound of 2010 Sound of... is an annual BBC poll of music critics and industry figures to find the most promising new music talent. It was first conducted by the BBC News website in 2003, and is now widely covered by the corporation's online, radio and TV outl ...
and was one of the three nominees for the Critics' Choice Award at the 2010 Brit Awards. In a 2012 interview with '' Between the Lines'', Diamandis said that the album's title came from a slang term for
testes A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testoster ...
, but she had been too coy to admit it before.


Composition

''The Family Jewels'' is mainly an
alternative pop Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...
, bubblegum-punk,
electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...
, and
synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...
record with influences of
1980s File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 420px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ease tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the ...
dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...
and late-
1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War ...
female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
. Diamandis explained that the album is "a body of work largely inspired by the seduction of
commercialism Commercialism is the application of both manufacturing and consumption towards personal usage, or the practices, methods, aims, and distribution of products in a free market geared toward generating a profit. Commercialism can also refer, positivel ...
, modern social values, family and
female sexuality Human female sexuality encompasses a broad range of behaviors and processes, including female sexual identity and Human sexual activity, sexual behavior, the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, political, and spiritual or religious ...
", intended to be "enjoyed and consumed as a story and theory that encourages people to question themselves". In a review for '' Q'', writer Hugh Montgomery noted genres such as
disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
("
Shampain "Shampain" is a song by Welsh singer Marina Diamandis, released under the stage name Marina and the Diamonds from her debut studio album, '' The Family Jewels'' (2010). It was released on 11 October 2010 as the album's fifth and final single, o ...
"), bubblegum punk ("Girls") and
cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
("Hermit the Frog"). The opening track, "Are You Satisfied?", ponders the meaning of a fulfilling life; a writer for ''
The Line of Best Fit ''The Line of Best Fit'' is an independent online magazine based in London, concentrating on new music. It publishes independent music reviews, features, interview, and media. Founded by Richard Thane in February 2007 and currently edited by P ...
'' likened it to the thinking of Danish
existentialist Existentialism ( ) is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centers on human thinking, feeling, and acting. Existentialist thinkers frequently explore issues related to the meaning, purpose, and value ...
philosopher
Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , , ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical texts on ...
. In a January 2010 interview with ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
'', Diamandis admitted that she "cringes" at the lyrics of the song "Girls", which "could be seen as a bit
misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...
", including the lines "Girls they never befriend me/'Cause I fall asleep when they speak/Of all the calories they eat"; she clarified that the lyrics concerned her own psychological problems with weight. A Neon Gold press release for a limited double A-side of "Obsessions" and " Mowgli's Road" described the former as a "bold and ambitious ... master work" and the latter as a "a high intensity, left field pop smash". Diamandis claimed that she made producer
Liam Howe Liam Coverdale Howe (born 29 September 1974) is an English record producer, musician and songwriter. Since co-founding electronic music band Sneaker Pimps in 1996, he has been a producer for Lana Del Rey, Marina and the Diamonds, FKA Twigs, Ell ...
take 486 vocal takes for "The Outsider". " Hollywood" takes inspiration from Diamandis' previous obsession with American
celebrity culture Celebrity culture is a high-volume exposure to celebrities' personal lives on a global scale. It is inherently tied to consumer interests where celebrities transform their fame to become product brands. Whereas a culture can usually be physically ...
, while in "
I Am Not a Robot "I Am Not a Robot" is a song by Welsh singer Marina Diamandis, released under the stage name Marina and the Diamonds, from her debut studio album, '' The Family Jewels'' (2010). It was released digitally on 23 April 2010 and physically on 26 Apr ...
", her favourite track from the album, she sings to tell herself to accept imperfection, with lines such as "you've been acting awful tough lately, smoking a lot of cigarettes lately ... don't be so pathetic"; she expected audiences to be able to relate to the song. "Numb" is an
orchestral pop Orchestral pop (sometimes called ork-pop for short) is pop music that has been arranged and performed by a symphonic orchestra. It may also be conflated with the terms symphonic pop or chamber pop. History During the 1960s, pop music on radio an ...
song that reflects on the dedication and sacrifice needed during her early years in London; " Oh No!" and "Are You Satisfied?" have similar lyrical themes. "Oh No!" was a late addition to the track listing, causing some reviews of the album to not include it. The album had initially been scheduled for release in October 2009, and was delayed by Diamandis' self-confessed perfectionism.


Release and promotion


Music videos

In 2008, Diamandis filmed videos for the tracks "Seventeen" and "Obsessions". The following year, photographer Rankin directed the accompaniment for "I Am Not a Robot", which used much body glitter. The video for "Mowgli's Road" featured Diamandis and two dancers, with puppeteers standing in front of them to give them the impression of having concertina limbs; it was shot over 17 hours. Polish artist Kinga Burza shot the "classic pop video" for "Hollywood", with the aim to "make her audiences fall in love her even more, perhaps crave a little popcorn and feel inspired to dress up for fun". Burza also filmed the video for "Oh No!", with an aesthetic based on "zany neon"
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
graphics and the fame-hungry lyrics. The video to "Shampain" made an homage to '' Michael Jackson's Thriller''. Dan Knight made a video for
Chilly Gonzales Jason Charles Beck (born 20 March 1972), professionally known as Chilly Gonzales, is a Canadian musician, songwriter, and producer. Currently based in Cologne, Germany, he previously lived for several years in Paris. Gonzales is a musical polymat ...
' "stripped-down" remix of "Hollywood" that was intended to be the opposite of Burza's official video. In the video, Gonzales and Diamandis perform on a 1980s Estonian music show complete with subtitles.


Singles

"Obsessions" and "Mowgli's Road" were Diamandis' first singles, released as a double A-side in 7-inch format on 16 February 2009. "Mowgli's Road" was later released digitally on 13 November 2009, pairing with a cover of
Late of the Pier Late of the Pier was an English four-piece dance-punk band from Castle Donington, England, signed to Parlophone. Their debut album ''Fantasy Black Channel'', produced by Erol Alkan was released on 11 August 2008 by Parlophone. History Forma ...
's "
Space and the Woods "Space and the Woods" is a song released by United Kingdom, UK band Late of the Pier on 5 March 2007. It was released on 500 limited edition 7" records. The single and b-side are different recordings to those that appeared on the Zarcorp Demo. No ...
". She chose "Mowlig's Road" as an "uncommercial" taster due to its oddness, but it received attention after being shared by the likes of
Perez Hilton Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting tabloid p ...
and
Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
. "Hollywood" was released as the album's second single and Diamandis' first major release on 1 February 2010. It reached number 12 on the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
. It was followed on 26 April by "I Am Not a Robot", which peaked at number 26 on the same listing. "Oh No!" was released as the album's fourth single on 2 August only in the UK and Ireland; it charted at number 38. "Shampain" was released as the album's fifth and final single on 11 October, again only in the same region, and reached number 141 in the UK. "I Am Not a Robot" was nominated for the 2010
Popjustice £20 Music Prize The Popjustice £20 Music Prize, also known as the Popjustice Twenty Quid Prize, is an annual prize awarded by music website Popjustice to recognise the best British pop single of the previous year. The prize was conceived by Popjustice founder ...
for best British single, eventually losing to " Kickstarts" by
Example Example may refer to: * '' exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example" * .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet ** example.com, example.net, example.org, ex ...
.


Tour

Diamandis went on her first headlining tour to promote the album, performing in Europe, North America and Australia. Dates included the Glastonbury Festival 2010,
South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...
and the
Falls Festival Falls Music & Arts Festival (commonly known as Falls) is a multi-day music festival held annually in Lorne (Victoria), Marion Bay (Tasmania), Byron Bay (New South Wales) and Fremantle (Western Australia), Australia over the New Year's Eve ...
. In parallel to headlining her own tour in the United States in mid-2011, she was an opening act for
Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...
's
California Dreams Tour The California Dreams Tour was the second concert tour by American singer Katy Perry, in support of her third studio album '' Teenage Dream''. The tour played 124 shows beginning February 20, 2011 in Lisbon, Portugal and concluding on January 22 ...
, and finished by opening for
Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...
's
Mylo Xyloto Tour The Mylo Xyloto Tour was the fifth concert tour undertaken by British rock band Coldplay. It was announced in support of their fifth album, ''Mylo Xyloto'' (2011), and became marked by two parts: from 31 May to 31 October 2011 they made a seri ...
at the
Manchester Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the Manchester city centre, city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights s ...
that December. After a performance at
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
's Deaf Institute on 21 February 2010,
Contactmusic.com Contactmusic.com is an online magazine of cultural criticism based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, and ...
writer Katy Ratican awarded Diamandis a 9/10 rating, stating, "Next time she plays Manchester, it will be to a sold out Academy 2 audience, with a top-selling album gracing the merchandising stand. Marina won't be playing to a few hundred people above a trendy bar in the foreseeable future".


Critical reception

''The Family Jewels'' received generally positive reviews from
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...
. At
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an
average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...
score of 68, based on 21 reviews. Hugh Montgomery of ''Q'' magazine noted that the singer's "imaginative reach" was "complemented by a winning pop savviness", while Luke O'Neil from '' The Phoenix'' stated that " e likes of
Kate Nash Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. Nash launched her music career in 2005. Her 2007 single " Foundations" became a hit and brought her to public attention in the UK. Her debut album, '' Made of Bricks ...
and company have flitted through this
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisc ...
/exuberant dance-
diva Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is clo ...
territory, but never mind, because this gorgeous genre starts now." Leonie Cooper of ''
NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' praised the album as "astonishing" and wrote that "Diamandis mixes sparkling pop with beautiful darkness for a debut that dazzles". More mixed reviews were critical of Diamandis' vocal delivery. Lou Thomas from
BBC Music BBC Music is responsible for the music played across the BBC. The current director of music is Bob Shennan, who is also the controller of BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 6 Music, and the BBC Asian Network. Officially it is a part of the BBC's Radio o ...
commented that "over 13 songs of Sparks-voice and many similar
staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and has appeared in music ...
piano
riffs A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accomp ...
listeners may feel bludgeoned", and Sean O'Neal of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' wrote that after "dozens of squeaky
Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (russian: Регинa Ильинична Спектор, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian–born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in ...
-ish enunciations" and "
Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights (song), Wuthering Heights", ...
trills", the "overbearing need to prove herself just ends up being exhausting". Joe Rivers of No Ripcord praised "Are You Satisfied?", "Hollywood" and "Oh No!" but was put off by sudden "howling" in "Hermit the Frog" and a "throaty growl" in "The Outsider". Joe Copplestone of ''
PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...
'' concluded that Diamandis would have to "tone down" these vocal techniques on future releases as not to overshadow "melodically inventive" music. A negative review came from ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
''s Andy Gill who panned "Shampain" and "Hermit the Frog" as "every bit as annoying as their punning titles, with queasy, prancing piano and
synth A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...
figures". He found certain vocal techniques in "Mowgli's Road" and "I Am Not a Robot" to be "infantile", and evaluated the lyrics of "Girls" and "Hollywood" as shallow. At ''
Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History ''D ...
'', Mary Bellamy described the album as split between original songwriting and commercial pop
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...
"at the expense of achieving anything great in either camp". ''NME'' placed the album at number 33 on its list of the Top 75 Albums of 2010.


Commercial performance

''The Family Jewels'' debuted at number five on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
with first-week sales of 27,618 copies. It remains Diamandis' best-selling debut week in the UK, after her second studio album ''
Electra Heart ''Electra Heart'' is the second studio album by Welsh singer Marina Diamandis, released under the stage name Marina and the Diamonds. It was released on 27 April 2012 by 679 Artists and Atlantic Records. Diamandis collaborated with producers ...
'' entered the chart at number one with first-week sales of 21,358 units. It ranked at number 87 in the
Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...
's list of the highest selling albums of 2010 in the UK. ''The Family Jewels'' was later certified Gold by the
British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...
(BPI), and had sold 195,358 copies in the United Kingdom as of April 2015. The record debuted at number seven in Greece and number nine in Ireland; it was eventually certified Gold by the
Irish Recorded Music Association The Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) is a non-profit association set up in 1999 to promote certain interests of the music industry in Ireland. It is particularly active in addressing copyright issues, and it compiles the official music ...
(IRMA). ''The Family Jewels'' performed moderately on several international
record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often ...
s. It reached number 12 in Germany, and entered the Austrian chart at number 18. It peaked at number 88 in the Netherlands, number 100 in Switzerland, and number 132 in France. In Oceania, the album reached number 79 in Australia. With first-week sales of 4,000 copies in the United States, ''The Family Jewels'' entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 138, while peaking at numbers two and 49 on ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''s
Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...
and
Top Rock Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
charts, respectively. As of 2012, ''The Family Jewels'' had sold 300,000 copies worldwide. In an interview for Australian radio in January 2011, Diamandis said that her career that far had been "more like a failure than a success", particularly in the American market. She attributed this to the inaction of
Chop Shop Records Chop Shop Records is a record label under partnership with Republic Records, headquartered in South Pasadena, California. The label was founded by Alexandra Patsavas, who also founded Chop Shop Music Supervision, which works with soundtracks on TV ...
, her label in the United States, as well as a move in musical tastes to "pumping beats" by artists like
Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...
. She cancelled performances in the United States in order to begin work on a new album.


Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer * signifies an original producer * signifies a remixer


Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''The Family Jewels''.


Musicians

*
Marina Diamandis Marina Lambrini Diamandis (; el, Μαρίνα-Λαμπρινή Διαμάντη; born 10 October 1985), known mononymously as Marina (often stylised in all caps), and previously by the stage name Marina and the Diamonds, is a Welsh singer and ...
– vocals ; piano ,
glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...
; Casio VL-tone ; organ * Richard "Biff" Stannard – keys ; programming ; additional keys ; all instruments ; drums * Ash Howes – keys ; programming ; additional keys ; all instruments * Luke Potashnick – guitar * Lucy Shaw – string arrangements, double bass *
Liam Howe Liam Coverdale Howe (born 29 September 1974) is an English record producer, musician and songwriter. Since co-founding electronic music band Sneaker Pimps in 1996, he has been a producer for Lana Del Rey, Marina and the Diamonds, FKA Twigs, Ell ...
– programming ; bass ;
Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...
; synths ; electric guitar, additional piano ;
Philicorda The Philicorda was an electronic organ first produced in the 1960s by Philips. It was Philips' first entry into musical instruments and targeted the home market. History The Philicorda came out of the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium in Ein ...
; all instruments ;
spoons Spoons may refer to: * Spoon, a utensil commonly used with soup * Spoons (card game), the card game of Donkey, but using spoons Film and TV * ''Spoons'' (TV series), a 2005 UK comedy sketch show *Spoons, a minor character from ''The Sopranos'' ...
, whistle, glockenspiel, acoustic guitar ; Jew's harp,
santoor The Indian santoor instrument is a trapezoid-shaped hammered dulcimer, and a variation of the Iranian santur. The instrument is generally made of walnut and has 25 bridges. Each bridge has 4 strings, making for a total of 100 strings. It is ...
;
mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
, recorders * Alison Dods – violin * Calina de la Mere – violin * Rachel Robson – viola * Chris Allan – cello * Steve Durham – drums *
Pascal Gabriel Pascal Gabriel (born 15 December 1956) is a Belgian-born musician based in London, England and Paris, France. Background Pascal Gabriel's musical career began in 1977 in the punk rock band The Razors (bass guitar). He left Belgium for Londo ...
– programming ; synths ; all instruments * Alex Mackenzie –
harpsichord A harpsichord ( it, clavicembalo; french: clavecin; german: Cembalo; es, clavecín; pt, cravo; nl, klavecimbel; pl, klawesyn) is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. This activates a row of levers that turn a trigger mechanism ...
, drums ; additional piano, mandolin * Raymond67 ( Freesound Project) – mechanical monkey * Sandyrb (Freesound Project) – human monkey * Stephen Large – string arrangements ; piano ; Hammond * Niel Catchpole – violin * Oli Langford – viola ; violin * Anna Mowat – cello *
Anna Phoebe Anna Phoebe McElligott (born 18 February 1981) is a London-based violinist, composer, and broadcaster who performs in musical genres including contemporary classical music, contemporary classical, rock music, rock, folk music, folk, jazz music, ...
– violin * Rebekah Allan – violin * Chris Worsey – cello * David Westlake – drums *
Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs t ...
– keys, guitars, programming


Technical

* Liam Howe – production ; mixing ; engineering * Richard "Biff" Stannard – production ; additional production ; mixing * Ash Howes – production ; mixing ; additional production * Richard Wilkinson – engineering * Dougal Lott – engineering assistance ;
Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...
* Pascal Gabriel – production ; engineering, mixing * Marina Diamandis – mixing ; production ; additional production *
Starsmith Finlay Dow-Smith (born 8 July 1988), known professionally as Starsmith, is a British songwriter and producer. He co-wrote and produced "Good Thing" by Zedd and Kehlani, and "I'll Be There" by Jess Glynne which went to number one in the UK and ...
– original production * Greg Kurstin – production, recording, mixing * Guy Davie – mastering * Dave Turner – mastering


Artwork

*
Mat Maitland Mat Maitland is an English art director and visual artist who lives in London. He is renowned for his photo collage works and for co-creating numerous music mascots for music artists because of his creative direction, including the "seafox" for ...
– sleeve art * Rankin – portraits


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


Release history


Notes


References


External links


''The Family Jewels''
on Diamandis' official website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Family Jewels 2010 debut albums 679 Artists albums Albums produced by Greg Kurstin Albums produced by Pascal Gabriel Atlantic Records albums Marina Diamandis albums Albums produced by Ash Howes Albums produced by Richard Stannard (songwriter) Albums recorded at Kingsize Soundlabs