By Laura Wilhelm, LauraWil InterCultural & Nicole Muj
Award-winning singer, songwriter, and pianist Marina V released her deeply personal new album, Labyrinthine Rose, on October 24, 2025, on all major streaming platforms and on her official website Marina V – LR
Produced by acclaimed composer Steve Horner (Bridgerton, Rachel Platten) and featuring legendary musicians Bruce Kulick (KISS) and David Ellefson (Megadeth), the album is Marina’s most raw and intimate project to date.
Described as creating music that is “hauntingly beautiful” by the LA Times, Marina delivers a collection of songs born from profound loss, resilience, and the rediscovery of hope.
“Becoming a mom, losing my dad in the pandemic, and watching the war devastate my family in Russia and Ukraine… it felt almost impossible to process it all while battling my demons,” says Marina. “Writing songs helped me survive. From my deepest pain, fears, and uncertainty to my fight to find profound joy in the here and now, this is Labyrinthine Rose.”
Born in Moscow, Marina V began composing songs as a child and moved to the United States at 15 on a prestigious scholarship. She has since performed in over 1,500 concerts worldwide, sharing the stage with artists such as Howard Jones, Beth Hart, and Macy Gray. Her career accolades include an award from Sir Bob Geldof in London and an extensive international fan-supported catalog of albums.
In addition to her own projects, Marina has written songs for major brands and entertainment platforms including PEPSI, Days of Our Lives, and most recently the new Spider-Man series on Disney+. Her voice was also featured in the end credits of Nicole Kidman’s Nine Perfect Strangers on Hulu.
A cultural ambassador, Marina has advised on projects such as CBS/Paramount+’s NCIS and helped launch the first-ever GRAMMY Museum exhibit in Moscow. She has also written hundreds of songs for children’s YouTube channels, amassing over 2 billion views, and recently created her own program, Violet and Mikey.
Marina lives in Southern California with her husband, musician Nick Baker, and their six-year-old daughter, Violetta.
Laura Wilhelm had the chance to interview Marina V about Labyrinthine Rose.
LW: Your Labyrinthine Rose songs are both soulful and sophisticated. Please describe your musical evolution from classical to acoustic and pop styles.
MV: Ooh, I love the “soulful and sophisticated” description. Thank you! I did start out as a classical musician, going to school of music for 8 years in Moscow, each day after my regular school, from age 6-14. And both my grandfather and my great-grandfather played a lot of classical music for me as a child, putting on records of their favorite composers for me.
At the same time, I was drawn to pop music too (listening to 80s Soviet pop, haha), and started writing my own songs (in my head) around five years of age. So, both classical and pop have always been a part of my life. P.S. One of the 80s songs I loved as a child is a Russian-Ukrainian song, Bird of Happiness, which I recorded for my new album.
LW: What is your conception of world music, and how does your work exemplify it?
MW: It’s funny, I never thought of myself as a musician in the “world music” genre, but I guess I am. I didn’t want to Google the genre definition to answer this question, but I guess my Russian songs do qualify probably.
I am proud of my heritage, and I love sharing my Russian roots with my listeners.
I’ve been told many times by many people, that my songs in Russian are the first Russian singing they ever heard, and it always made me proud to be a cultural ambassador!
LW: It looks like you draw a great deal of inspiration from your global travels. Where would you like to go next and why?
MV: I’ll go anywhere, if an opportunity presents itself! A couple of years ago I had a chance to perform in Saudi Arabia (at Stan Lee’s SuperCon), and it was amazing.
LW: Please describe a particularly challenging project and the lessons you learned from it. Are you glad or sorry you did it?
MV: One of the most challenging projects in recent years was my participation in the opening of the first ever GRAMMY Museum in my hometown of Moscow, in Dec 2017. I was invited to be a part of it by the GRAMMYs as a Russian-American artist ambassador, and I also helped translate/adapt the exhibit into Russian.
It was amazing, but… as it was at the Kremlin, and there were some bigwigs involved from both the US and Russian sides, including billionaires, bureaucrats, celebrities. Lots of egos and plenty of culture clashing too, and lots of jetlag for everyone (we all flew from Los Angeles), highly stressful deadlines. It was far from easy. But we all pulled through and made it work.
I am really glad I did it. Working on something culturally important, working as a team, making something amazing happen. I was honored to be a part of it.
LW: Would you recommend music as a career to younger people?
MV: Yes! I recommend any career to anyone, as long as you’re passionate and willing to work hard. We are lucky to live in an age where you can be anything you want to be, or at least have an opportunity to try. I think it is amazing.
About Labyrinthine Rose
Labyrinthine Rose explores the contradictions and intricacies of the human experience, with songs that weave between grief, renewal, resilience, and love.
Album Highlights:
Labyrinthine Rose (Title Track) – A sweeping anthem about life’s complexities, recently featured in the 2025 French Riviera Film Festival trailers in Cannes, France.
Symphony & Metal – Featuring Bruce Kulick (KISS) and David Ellefson (Megadeth), this track is an anthem of resilience and perseverance.
Morning Light – Written during the isolation of postpartum struggles and the onset of the pandemic.
Daughter Song – An intimate reflection on motherhood, inspired by the sound of her baby’s first heartbeat.
Ready To Live Again – A song of strength and renewal in the wake of her father’s death and the ongoing war.
Shine Again (It Gets Better) – A self-penned anthem of hope, co-written with Steve Horner.
My Impossible – A celebration of love, dreams, and beating the odds, with an upcoming video filmed at the iconic Brady Bunch house.
Bonus tracks include a heartfelt rendition of the Russian-Ukrainian classic Bird of Happiness, recorded live, and a raw phone recording of Particles In The Air, written in memory of her late father.
Her cover of the song Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (Kylie Minogue) in Russian language, will also be featured on Nicole Kidman’s new show Nine Perfect Strangers, was released in November.