The single marks the musician’s first since the deluxe edition of her latest album, Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, in 2022
Last year, Marina traded the glitz and glam of her pop persona for the more subdued reflections of a poet. Her debut book, Eat the World, reflected on her early career and pivotal dark moments in her life. At the time, releasing music to follow up her latest album, Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land, wasn’t her top priority. But now, Marina is ready to spread her wings and take flight with “Butterfly,” her first single since 2022.
“Sometimes people gonna let you down/Not everybody’s meant to stick around/I feel the pain and you feel it too/But I won’t let nobody treat me like you do,” she sings on the song’s slow-building opening verse. “I’ve had enough of being on my own/All these people I don’t know/I guess I’ll make it on my own/So I’m saying goodbye, goodbye/Watch me grow from afar as I turn into a butterfly/Now I’m leaving you behind.”
“Butterfly” arrives alongside an Aerin Moreno-directed video, which sees Marina move from the shadows of a dimly lit room to the colorful rooms of a dollhouse-like residence. Later this year, she’ll perform the record during appearances at Coachella, World Pride, Governors Ball, Osheaga, and Bonnaroo.
“I feel like this next record’s going to be important, and I think the poetry book is also reflective of that,” the singer told Rolling Stone last year. “I’m able to take a left turn and do something that was genuinely just for the joy of doing it. I’m in a separate part of my memory bank. That’s how it feels.”
She added: “I’ve been writing for six months. It’s still at the beginning. I haven’t started producing anything yet. Part of me is desperate to get things out, but also, part of me is just saying, ‘Enjoy this process.’ Because this is my favorite thing: to build the record and build the world around it. I don’t have any timeline yet, but sooner rather than later. I know it’s been a while, but I’ve had things going on.”
