An Amalgamation of Alter-Egos
As someone who has been obsessed with music for… basically, forever, I love when I can come back to an album and find something new that makes me feel closer to the artist. For me, these works are usually concept albums where the artist has curated a character to tell a story from a new perspective. These new personas can be used to discuss something controversial in the media or to talk about personal experiences from another point of view. From the outside it can be challenging to separate an artist from their character. As a listener, deciphering the storyline and intentions of the artists under a guise becomes much more thought provoking. Here, I present to you some of my favourite alter-ego personas created by artists who took transforming their identities to a whole other level.
Electra Heart by MARINA
MARINA, formerly known as Marina and the Diamonds, solidified her place in pop music with her critically acclaimed sophomore album, Electra Heart. Alongside the project’s release, she introduced us to the grandiose world of the title character. The story of Electra Heart began while MARINA was touring the United States for her debut album, The Family Jewels, and became enthralled with American culture. Being born in Wales and spending most of her early life in Europe, the idea of the American dream and the various female stereotypes associated with it led to the creation of Electra Heart. The character would be used to portray four prominent archetypes from the view of an outsider. Through visual media and specific songs off the album, MARINA portrayed Electra Heart as the Homewrecker, the Beauty Queen, the Housewife, and my personal favourite, the Idle Teen.
While having only one single dedicated to the Idle Teen archetype and no music video to go along with it, it ended up having the greatest impact on the Tumblr generation out of any pop persona out there. Along with the songs Bubblegum Bitch and Radioactive, Teen Idle and its sad, almost self-pitying aesthetic sparked a collective of teenage girls finding solace in her lyrics. I remember when I first discovered this album and instantly clung to this song. I felt it described my feelings even though I was only a 12-year-old obsessed with grungy photos and poetry. Her lyrics spoke to me when she said “Yeah, I wish I'd been, I wish I'd been, a teen, teen idle, Wish I'd been a prom queen, fighting for the title, Instead of being sixteen and burning up a bible, Feeling super, super, super suicidal.” MARINA discusses the loneliness of adolescence, loss of innocence, and regretting the past. The album speaks on many themes including mental health, vanity, gender roles, sex, making it a very relatable piece of pop culture.
Since the character of Electra Heart is larger than life, there is a very clear disconnect between MARINA as an artist and the work she produced during this album era. Once in an interview MARINA stated, “Electra Heart is the antithesis of everything that I stand for. And the point of introducing her and building a whole concept around her is that she stands for the corrupt side of American ideology, and basically that's the corruption of yourself. My worst fear - that's anyone's worst fear - is losing myself and becoming a vacuous person. And that happens a lot when you're very ambitious.”
As Electra Heart was the heart of the album release, MARINA herself almost never shone through. In her future albums, where she doesn’t play a character, her music feels more personal and down to earth.. MARINA’s artistic ability is dually expressed by sometimes being her true self, and sometimes playing her polar opposite.
At the end of the album promotion period for Electra Heart, MARINA stated in an interview that the title character had ended her life with sleeping pills and MARINA herself was ready to move onto the next big project with a whole different feeling.
An Array of Alter-Egos Created by David Bowie
David Bowie is well known for his various alter-egos and each of their eccentric styles and stories. Early on in his career, Bowie realized that playing characters made him feel more comfortable performing, allowing him to stay hidden from ridicule. Once realizing this, he began to experiment with different characters. His first alter-ego was Major Tom, an astronaut who made his debut on the song Space Oddity.
Bowie’s most well-known character, Ziggy Stardust, is an androgenous alien who was sent to an earth nearing extinction with the mission to bring hope to its inhabitants. The album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars revolves around the title character and features the self-titled anthem, Ziggy Stardust. Another popular mention is Five Years, a songthat details the aliens’ message to earth. Bowie created Ziggy with the hopes of introducing subversive culture to the youth of the 70s and bringing the concept of gender fluidity to the rock scene.
In 1973, came Aladdin Sane, a mutation of Ziggy Stardust, who Bowie described as his “idea of rock and roll America.” Aladdin Sane allowed Bowie to explore mental illness and its impact on his personal relationships. For this album, Bowie’s persona mixes his own feelings regarding fame with aspects of schizophrenia that he witnessed in his half-brother. The iconic album art features Bowie as Aladdin Sane with a striking blue and red lightning bolt on his face that signifies the different sides of his personality being split.
Over the years, Bowie continued creating new personas including Halloween Jack, the Thin White Duke, and the Blind Prophet before deciding to peel away the layers of alter-egos and release a trilogy where we get to see him present as the one and only, David Bowie. It must have been a terrifying move after so many years of writing from the POV of different faux personalities to finally create music that comes from a personal unobstructed place.
While I only dove into two artists that utilize alternate characters to share stories, there are many more who use alter-egos as a mask of protection or to experiment more freely. I encourage you to look beyond the surface and discover the fascinating worlds of alter-egos. You never know who you might find. Unsure where to start? I’ve created a playlist full of other alter-egos and stories. Enjoy alternative music? Check out Chip Chrome and the Monotones by The Neighborhood or fall into the world of Gorillaz and the characters in the band. More into oldies? The Beach Boys and The Kinks have some great character driven concept albums. There are no limits to where you can find something beyond the surface.
Image by Michael Passler. 