ARTIST SPOTLIGHT – MARiMARi

Emerging onto the Liverpool music scene with sparkling hyperpop sounds and an alternative edge, MARiMARi’s debut EP ‘Little B*tch, Little Danger Zone’ rips up the genre rule book and rewrites it in glitter gel pens.

MARiMARi embraces the pop genre as a space where teen-hood, queerness and femininity are championed, using it like a native language to tell these stories. Opening track ‘No Regrets’ sounds like an enraged teenager smashing up their bedroom, soft childhood teddy bears thrown up in the carnage as angry words are scrawled across pink walls in permanent marker. Thumping bass and distorted guitar are accompanied by high pitched cyber sounds as MARiMARi sings “rip up the contracts that you made to shreds, and if I can’t have girls, I’ll put a boy in my bed”, confirming ‘No Regrets’ an anthem for queer coming of age. Like much of MARiMARi’s discography, ‘No Regrets’ is distinguished by its duality. It’s both nostalgic and futuristic, saturated in confidence but deeply vulnerable, feminine and masculine, angry and joyful, soft and edgy. It’s everything that makes up the contradictory, difficult and beautiful experience of teen-hood that the song represents.

‘Glass & The Curtain’ shares the heart-wrenching perspective of a person bound-up in a toxic relationship. You can imagine this track pinned to a MySpace profile as the symbol of the butterfly is used lyrically to represent MARiMARi throughout the track, like the pixelated avatars of 2000s websites. Opening up like a flower, the track guides us through complex experiences through waves of glitchy percussion, distortion-soaked vocals and distant shimmering synths. “I’m a mess babe, so dance in the black hole” is delivered as a whisper and a shout, acting as both a disclosure and an invitation to join the spinning kaleidoscope of feelings the song conveys.

If you put K$sha, J-Pop and Charli XCX in a blender, bake the mixture and decorate it with sparkly pink icing and sticky red maraschino cherries, you have the recipe for ‘Aerosol’. This track is a masterclass for artists who want to create pop music that breaks expectations, while referencing the glossy cultural history of the genre. It’s bubbly, experimental, edgy and joyful, playing with language and sound in equal measure.

‘Infamous & Dangerous’ is an ode to the friends who acted as collaborators on the EP, pouring their shared experiences, friendship and collective learning into each and every track. ‘Infamous & Dangerous’ is sonically incandescent, cutting edge in its genre and maximalist in its production. Lyrically this track feels like a musical scrapbook, tracing MARiMARi’s steps from being raised in Japan, spending teenage years in York and studying music in Liverpool, “collecting these moments like art galleries” and looking forward to a dazzling future.

‘Kieri’ sounds like a heaven where angelic vocals are populated with candid samples, experimental sounds and barely audible lyrics, like words scrawled in faded invisible ink lit by violet light.

‘Itaba-Cho’ is both a love letter and a confession, written in remembrance of MARiMARi’s late Grandmother. As a Japanese-British artist, MARiMARi embraces her heritage within her music through language and sonic influences. ‘Itaba-Cho’ is no exception, cradling lyrics that feel pulled straight from a diary entry in effervescent melodies. “The world let you go without saying goodbye, itaba-cho, frozen in time”, sings MARiMARi as digital sounds cascade like petals.

The production throughout the EP is beautifully crafted, from the softened sound of a distant guitar riff to the auto-tune that transforms the lead vocals and the layers of syrupy synths. This attention to detail transcends music alone for MARiMARi, as fashion, visuals and performance are all included in her multidimensional package. Songs are created with Pinterest boards, lyrical palettes and collaborative conversations, with album covers mentally sketched as tracks take their shape. Just as MARiMARi hand-stitches the production of the album, the outfits that adorn promotional material were also crafted by hand with a sewing machine bought after the loss of her Grandmother, carrying her heritage, grief and joy through MARiMARi’s identity as an artist.

Like the torn edges of posters ripped out of teenage magazines and stuck to a bedroom wall, ‘Little B*tch, Little Danger Zone’ is sugary sweet but vulnerable. Like hot pink lip gloss paired with smudged eyeliner, each song on this masterful EP is joyfully produced, whilst holding space for all the baggage and nuances of life.

Written and illustrated by Ella Fradgley.

You can listen to MARiMARi’s EP on Spotify, and keep up to date with this truly exciting artist here. For more on Ella Fradgley, follow them here.