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.
Background and production
Following the release of her fourth studio album Love + Fear in 2019, Marina embarked on a multi-leg tour and released an acoustic companion extended play (EP), Love + Fear (Acoustic). She also began writing music for a fifth studio album in July 2019, and confirmed her plans via an Instagram post, in January 2020. The news was followed up by the release of the soundtrack single "About Love" in February, which was featured on the soundtrack to the American romantic comedy film To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You (2020). For the album, Marina worked with various female collaborators as she announced through her social media in 2019, looking for recommendations from her fans and friends. Some of the collaborators included director Alexandra Gavillet, photographer Coughs and producer Jennifer Decilveo.
Writing sessions took at Marina's home in West Hollywood, which Decilveo refer to her as "the real deal and, in this strange pop market, it's refreshing to have somebody with lyrics that are going against the grain." She stated in a Q&A she made in April 2020 that she had written 70% of the record. In June 2021, she confirmed to The New York Times that she and her boyfriend Jack Patterson ended their five and a half years relationship during pandemic. Unlike its predecessor, Ancient Dreams In a Modern Land was written solely by Marina and she co-produced five tracks. The tracks "Man's World" and "Pandora's Box" were written between late 2019 and early 2020, while the rest of the album was conceived during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Music and lyrics
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."