Sonos Studio and Pandora gave us an intimate evening with Marina and the Diamonds (diamonds referring to not her band but the audience) after discovering and listening to this indie pop band rock out at Coachella much farther away. Donned in a sparkly pink pant suit, with colorful high heels, the crowd went wild when lead singer Marina Lambrini Diamandis walked on stage at Sonos to perform for about 60 super hip Angelenos. Girls near me were so excited they tried to touch her and many screamed the American “Whooooooo!” Opening with Savages just verified for us the talent that was entertaining us.

Hailing from Wales, Marina and the Diamonds has some pretty poppish tunes like FROOT (from her third album FROOT), Primadonna, Blue, and How to Be a Heartbreaker, but her haunting often husky voice is what draws me in along with her immensely thoughtful lyrics. Songs like I’m a Ruin, Happy, Savages, and Sex Yeah are intoxicating and catchy.

Nothing is provocative anymore
Even for kids
No room for imagining
‘Cause everyone’s seen everything
Question what the TV tells you
Question what a pop star sells you
Question mom and question dad
Question good and question bad

If history could set you free (from who you were supposed to be)
If sex in our society (didn’t tell a girl who she would be)
‘Cause all my life I’ve tried to fight what history has given me  – Lyrics from the song Sex Yeah

Marina Lambrini Diamandis (Welsh and Greek) really connected with the audience, and showed us her skills on keyboard as she moved the crowd with dancy indie pop tunes to soulful ballads sang with gusto that gave me shivers and made my hair stand on end.

The band’s career is on fire after playing the headlining stage at Coachella on the first Sunday. Coachella, Indio’s music festival which draws thousands of people from all over the world often escalates artists to even more fame. That starlit night in the desert just a few nights before had Marina and the Diamonds entertaining the sparkly diamond masses followed by well known acts like DJ Kaskade, Florence and the Machine, Drake and Madonna.

One of my favorite songs she bellowed out at Sonos Studio was called Happy. Here are some of the lyrics:

Relax, couldn’t sit back
And let the sunlight, in my lap
I sang a hymn
To bring me peace
And then it came, a melody

It felt so sweet
It felt so strong
It made me feel like
I belonged
And all the sadness inside me
Melted away
Like I was free

I found what I’d been looking for in myself

Found a life worth living for someone else
Never thought that I could be
Happy, happy

To hear more video clips of Marina and the Diamonds from Sonos Studio, find her live on our LaLaScoop Instagram. Her voice is breathtakingly beautiful. We hope to hear more of her in years to come.

All photos courtesy of Melissa Curtin.