Following the buzz which was created by her self-released EP 'Mermaids vs. Sailors' in 2007, Marina Diamandis met with fourteen music labels, only being offered one deal, which she also believed was the only one which would not dictate her image. She came to the attention of Neon Gold Records' Derek Davies in 2008, with her debut single 'Obsessions' being released on the label in February 2009, and her first extended play 'The Crown Jewels' EP followed on 1 June. In December 2009, Diamandis was ranked in second place on the Sound Of 2010 poll organized by BBC, behind Ellie Goulding, and by the following year she'd signed a recording contract with 679 Recordings. Her debut studio album, 'The Family Jewels', was released in 2010, and it incorporated indie pop and new wave musical styles, entering the UK Albums Chart at number five, and being certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry. Her second studio album was to be called 'die Life', which was a play on words, as 'die' is the German article for feminine nouns, meaning the album is actually called 'The Life', and it focused on feminism and sex. Marina initially wanted a release to echo Lady Gaga's 'The Fame Monster', where a second album is an extension of the first, which was in keeping with her description of 'Scab And Plaster' being a "'Family Jewels' throw-back". However, by August 2010 she'd decided to completely move on from 'The Family Jewels', with her original idea being for a "dark electronic pop record", jokingly saying it was something "Britney Spears would have made if she were goth".
She also wanted to work with one particular producer, Greg Kurstin, and she didn't care if there were no singles on it. 'Jealousy' was an out-take from 'The Family Jewels', while two versions of 'Miss Y' have leaked, both produced by Kurstin - the "to be great" demo with more finalised vocals, but no bridge, and the "to become great" demo which includes an instrumental bridge, but unmixed additional backing vocals and harmonies. In an interview she expressed she was enjoying writing the songs for the new album, and had lots of ideas, and that she wanted to release it in July 2011, but her label had told her she wasn't going to manage to fit it all in around her touring schedule, and so the release date would likely be September 2011. When that date passed with no sign of the record, she admitted that it was not going to be out that year, and that as she "didn't know when she would finish it, it could be one or five years". By 2012 it seemed that 'die Life' was dead in the water, and in April she released the single 'Primadonna' as the lead track from her second studio album 'Electra Heart', which followed a couple of weeks later. Once 'Electra Heart' appeared then that confirmed that 'die Life' had been scrapped, and it has since become part of Marina's mysterious back-story. In order that we can hear the progression from 2010's 'The Family Jewels' to 2012's 'Electra Heart', here is the shelved 'die Life', which would have bridged those two releases in 2011.
Track listing
01 Scab And Plaster
02 Starring Role
03 Power/Control
04 Living Dead
05 Free Sex
06 Miss Y
07 Jealousy
08 Radioactive
09 Dirty Sheets
10 Like The Other Girls
11 die Life
