[rating=4.00]
“I wonder if you notice me/notice me/I’m the one in your bed,” Anya Marina croons. It is that lyrical twist that epitomizes Anya Marina’s work. What at first appears to be a typical tale of an unrequited crush becomes something more, with the last line signifying a certain intimacy that redefines the original question.
Such a lyrical turn is common with Marina; this is the artist who once sang the line “I hope you choke” to portray a complicated romance. On her third full-length album, Felony Flats, Marina continues to excel at taking thematic staples of pop music and turning them on their heads. Many of her lyrics appear sung with a wry grin. “I swear his heart stopped beating; take it out,” she smirks in “Heart Stops.”
While Marina doesn’t boast a voice that would win a TV singing competition, she has an aura of vulnerability, as though she’s sitting in a dark room singing to herself. The sultry whispers of “Believe Me I Believe” combine with a pulsing electronic bassline to create a white-hot sensual atmosphere. Conversely, the childish vocal delivery in “Notice Me” coats the track in a layer of innocence.
Felony Flats is a slight downgrade from 2009’s Britt Daniel-influenced Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II, but that is a testament to the greatness of the latter, rather than a criticism of the former. By adding electronic dance vibes, swelling feedback and crunching guitars to her sonic palette, Marina crafts a visceral work of art pleads, teases, draws you close, and then moves on with the shrug of a shoulder.
