Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land

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Play on Spotify

## Songs Ranking

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Ancient Dreams In A Modern Land

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I Love You But I Love Me More

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Goodbye

***Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land*** is the fifth studio album by Welsh singer-songwriter Marina and her last under a major label. The album was released on 11 June 2021 through Atlantic Records. She began writing music for the record in August 2019, five months after the release of her fourth studio album, *Love + Fear* (2019). The album was produced by Diamandis, Jennifer Decilveo and James Flannigan; the latter collaborated on her previous album. *Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land* is a pop, electropop, and dance-pop record that explores themes such as feminism, global warming, misogyny, heartbreak, and racism.

*Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land* received generally positive reviews from music critics, many of whom compared it to her previous works. The album was preceded by four singles: "Man's World", "Purge the Poison", the title track, and "Venus Fly Trap", all of which accompanying a music video. It peaked at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart, while it debuted at 92 on the US *Billboard* 200. A deluxe edition of the album was released on 7 January 2022, which contained three new tracks and two demos of songs that appeared on the standard edition. It was preceded by the promotional single "Happy Loner".

Marina confirmed at a concert on 23 May 2022 that *Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land* would be her final album under her 14-year long contract with Atlantic Records, and that she would be an independent artist going forward.

*Ancient Dreams In a Modern Land* has been described as a pop, electropop, and dance-pop record. During songwriting sessions for the record, Marina was motivated by the mistreatment of women and LGBT individuals throughout history, and gathered further inspiration from the Salem witch trials. Other songs had a more personal inspiration, some of them focusing on her breakup. The album deals with themes of feminism, global warming, misogyny, heartbreak, and racism. The lyrics to the songs are wordy, and present more "vim and attitude" than the songs on *Love + Fear*. About this shift, Marina said that "there was a certain portion of my fan base that didn't connect as much because [*Love + Fear*] was a much slicker, shinier record" and their opinions impacted her decision to do a "wild, raw record" as its successor. Nick Levine from *NME* wrote that *Ancient Dreams In a Modern Land* "might also be her most personal record."

*Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land* was preceded by the release of three singles. The lead single, "Man's World", premiered on 18 November 2020, two months after Marina teased a different previously unreleased song titled "Happy Loner". She originally intended to release "Man's World" in April 2020, to coincide with her performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, but the cancellation of the festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic prevented it. Commercially, it reached the lower rankings of the Official Charts Company's downloads and sales charts, and a top 40 chart in New Zealand. The accompanying music video was directed by Alexandra Gavillet and inspired by the neoclassical works of English painter John William Godward. Remixes of the song by Muna and Empress Of featuring Pabllo Vittar were released in January and February 2021, respectively.

"Purge the Poison" was released as the album's second single on 14 April 2021, alongside the album announcement. She had previously teased the song in a May 2020 social media post, where she previewed an early demo and some of its lyrics. Its music video debuted during the same day, featuring Marina in an array of glittery and colorful outfits. To promote the single, Marina established a website titled AllMyFriendsAreWitches.com, where fans could receive news updates regarding the parent album. An alternate version of the song, featuring a new verse from Pussy Riot's Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, was released on 5 May.

Marina teased a snippet of the album's title track on her Twitter account on 11 May 2021, before announcing that it would become the album's third single. It was released on 19 May, coinciding with news that Marina will take part in a livestreaming concert, Ancient Dreams: Live from the Desert, scheduled to be broadcast on 12–13 June 2021.