For British indie pop icon MARINA, the most thrilling part of writing a record is when she finally nails what it's about.

"I was like, it's 'Princess of Power' … and it spells 'pop.' It's like, this is meant to be," MARINA said.

Her sixth album, "Princess of Power," comes after the artist — born Marina Diamandis — recovered from chronic fatigue syndrome while rebuilding her relationship with music and her identity.

MARINA has scored billions of streams without ever having a top 10 single in the U.K. or U.S., yet her influence runs deep among a generation of artists including Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish.
"I think artists who are very commercially successful, like they'll have these peaks and troughs and mine's kind of like been like steadily going up," MARINA said.

Although she admitted it's "somewhat frustrating" when music doesn't reach mainstream success, her dedicated fanbase never fails to find it.

"I always want people to choose to love my music. I don't want to shove it in anyone's face," she said.

The origins of MARINA's journey

The daughter of a Welsh mother and Greek father, MARINA moved from her hometown of Abergavenny, Wales, to London at 19. She was initially embarrassed to sing in public — but music felt like an "innate calling."

She overcame her stage fright "painfully" by going to open mic nights alone.

"I was like, if I'm bad, I need no one I know to see me be bad, which you can't do anymore, 'cause everyone's filming everything," she said, laughing.

She launched her career with her 2010 debut "The Family Jewels," then going by Marina and the Diamonds, followed by 2012's "Electra Heart," which reached No. 1 on British charts. But by 2016, success felt suffocating.

"And I just suddenly felt really trapped," she said. "I felt like my identity was glued to my artist's identity. I just suddenly, like wanted out."

Discovering health issues

That same year, MARINA began experiencing mysterious symptoms that would later be diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome.

"The main symptom actually was buzzing all over," she explained. "And it always started in my feet then it would basically go all the way up my body … like my face would basically be throbbing. Like my whole body would feel like it was ringing."

It took six years to understand the condition was connected to her nervous system. Breathwork ultimately provided relief.

"I have had to basically change my whole life, like inside out," she said. 

While MARINA stepped back from her career, her early music found new life on TikTok.

"It is strange because I was so used to like pushing to make things happen in my career. And then suddenly this whole thing, you get three platinum records by doing nothing," she said.

Now living in Los Angeles, MARINA approaches each album with detailed planning, usually in a journal. But this time, she made an album map for "Princess of Power" which includes a color palette, themes and the kind of energy she wanted the music to have: cosmic, love rush, euphoric, dazzling, bright light and powerful.

"This album was different because I think I'm at the point where I'm not writing so much to like heal myself," she said. "I was like, I have this platform, and I want to make sure that whatever I'm putting out into the world has a certain type of energy that feels positive to me … because that's what I really needed two years ago when I started writing this."

"You don't get to do this many times in your life, you know, as an artist," she continued. "So, I was like, this is the time I'm gonna do this. Let's see what happens."

Performing these new songs allows MARINA to embody the transformation she's undergone.

"It's almost like making it public means I can suddenly step into it," she said. "It's almost like I can finally say to people, 'This is who I am actually.' Like the person you knew four years ago has gone."

That transformation represents more than recovery, it's a reclamation of her power.

• Entertainment