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Metamorphosis seems enchanted to the untrained eye—butterflies magically appearing from the chrysalis, the interiors of which we can’t see. But the reality is messy. One body dies to make space for another. It’s easy to forget the discomfort it takes to transform, seductive to behold only the beauty on the other side.

Not so on Marina Allen’s Centrifics, the follow-up to her critically-acclaimed debut Candlepower (2021). Over ten songs, Allen is clear-eyed, wading into the lake of her own sorrow, unsure of what awaits her but unwilling to remain on the comfort of dry land. “I was fed up with hiding myself,” Allen says of the intention behind the songs. “I just kept saying ‘yes’”.

There’s joy in permission, but saying “yes” always requires negation of something else. This duality of grief and mirth permeates the record, which sees Allen at her most confident and embodied, flinging her voice into the stratosphere and digging it into the earth. Humor duets with wisdom as her lyrics circle around the biblical, taking on the weight of prophecy without the prophet’s pride. “I can’t bring you where I’m going,” she sings both sure and soft. “New light seeps in, a new world is coming.”

Allen’s searing vocal presence is supported by Chris Cohen’s production, which weaves far-flung influences that resonate cinematically throughout. The contrasts are held tenderly, crafting a record that’s both larger than life and intimate in its restraint, each song a portal between an old self and a new. ~Olivia Gerber