A new Marina Allen album comes like the first day of Spring. The sky has blued; a clear air descends. Through the green fuse drives a flower. Across two introductory records, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter has ripened a rare harvest, but her third studio album is an arrival home. Taking fragments and stories from Marina’s past, Eight-Pointed Star deftly weaves together a new future, in what feels for all the world like a glittering, clear-eyed modern classic of alternative folk and Americana.
“As much as you can have will and ambition,” she says, “those things often get in the way of a fluidity to life, and where you’re supposed to be. You can make yourself dizzy wanting to be somewhere you’re not. My first album, Candlepower, had this sparkly energy around it – I think of it very fondly. With Eight-Pointed Star I’m trying to harness that beginner’s mind again, while having the scars and wisdom that come from biting into the fruits of knowledge.”
Ineffable and timeless, this collection of songs holds a curiosity that’s as open to you as you are to them. Compared to the soaring and swelling compositions of Allen’s second album Centrifics or the innocent tranquillity of Candlepower, the world of Eight Pointed Star is more deeply addressing and open-armed. It favors a type of soul-searching that doesn’t dwell in complications, and is open to answers. You can hear contentment radiating from the music, with Chris Cohen’s production offering a full-band affair. More so now we hear the light gushing through the trees; the present-day sun that glides over both the human joys and anxieties inextricably tied to here and now.
“Serene, spacious Americana“★★★★ Pitchfork
“One of the best records of the summer” ★★★★ Paste
“A brilliant songwriter on the rise” Rolling Stone (Best Songs of 2024 So Far)
“Glorious” The Guardian
“Irresistible” The Fader
“Enchanting” Stereogum
“Magnificent” ★★★★★ Clash
“Near-perfect” ★★★★★ Shindig
★★★★ Spiegel
★★★★ AllMusic
★★★★ Hi-Fi Choice
★★★★ The Artsdesk
★★★★ NARC
★★★★ Blow Up
★★★★ Rumore
Live Dates:
13 Jun: Scribble, Los Angeles, CA, US
19 Jun: Union Pool, New York, NY, US
21 Jun: The Slaughtered Lamb, London, UK
24 Jun: Cirkus, Stockholm, Sweden *
25 Jun: Sentrum Scene, Oslo, Norway *
26 Jun: DR Koncerthusets, Copenhagen, Denmark *
29 Jun: De Vereeniging, Nijmegen, Netherlands *
30 Jun: De Oosterpoort, Groningen, Netherlands *
02 Oct: The Ford Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, US †
03 Oct: Henry Miller Memorial Library, Big Sur, CA †
* With Ben Howard
† With Devendra Banhart
