Fallulah (born 6 February 1985) is a Danish-Romanian singer-songwriter and musician. Her given name is Maria Apetri. Following a short dancing career, she entered the music industry and released her debut album in 2010 which peaked at number three in Denmark and went on to be certified platinum.
Early life
Fallulah grew up in
Tårnby
Tårnby () is a town in Denmark, the seat of Tårnby Municipality in the Capital Region of Denmark. It is located approximately south of central Copenhagen on the island of Amager. Neighbouring settlements include the Copenhagen suburb of S ...
on
Amager
Amager ( ), located in the Øresund, is Denmark's most densely populated island, with more than 216,000 inhabitants (January 2022). The protected natural area of ''Naturpark Amager'' (including Kalvebod Fælled) makes up more than one-third of the ...
island, the southern suburbs of
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
. She went to a boarding school in
Haarby
Haarby or Hårby is a town in central Denmark with a population of 2,533 (1 January 2025).Kalundborg Gymnasium. Her Danish mother, Lillian Apetri and her
Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
**Romanian cuisine, traditional ...
father Nicolae Apetri, were the initiators of the Balkanic folklore dance group Crihalma. Therefore, Fallulah spent much of her childhood on dancing tours in the
Balkans
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
and in Eastern Europe. This activity ceased when she lost her father at the age of nine years. They then moved to
Jyderup
Jyderup is an old town, with a population of 4,300 (1 January 2025), in Holbæk Municipality, northwestern Zealand (Denmark), Zealand in Denmark. It is situated roughly halfway between the larger cities of Kalundborg and Holbæk on the west and ea ...
in the north west of
Zealand
Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...
, where Fallulah continued with her dancing. At age 21 she moved to New York to start at the Broadway Dance Center but then moved back to Denmark to focus on music.
Career
Fallulah has been compared to
Florence and the Machine
Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band formed in London in 2007 by lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, drummer Christopher Lloyd Hayden and harp ...
Bat for Lashes
Natasha Khan (born 25 October 1979), known professionally as Bat for Lashes, is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released six studio albums: '' Fur and Gold'' (2006), ''Two Suns'' (2009), '' The Haunt ...
. She performed at the Start! festival and has been featured as "Soundvenue Selected" by the Danish music magazine of the same name. She was national radio station
DR P3
DR P3 (referred to in Denmark simply as P3) is a Danish current-based hit music radio station operated by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. It is broadcast on FM radio, DAB, and Internet radio.
History
It commenced broadcasting on 1 January 1 ...
's "unavoidable" during week 38 in 2009 with her single "I Lay My Head".
On 30 October 2009, she released the theme song for the Danish film ''Simon and Malou'' entitled "No Time for Love", written by
Bryan Adams
Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...
and
Gretchen Peters
Gretchen Peters is an American singer and songwriter.
Early life
Peters was born in Bronxville, New York on November 14, 1957. She wrote her first song with her sister at the age of 5. In 1970, her parents broke up, and Peters moved with her ...
under the name Maria Apetri.
Her single "Bridges" was the most played track, from a home artist, on DR P3 in 2010, and on 15 January 2011, Fallulah won the prestigious "P3 Guld" award. Early in 2011, Fallulah had another hit with the song "Out of It", which was played as the intro for the so-called depression comedy ''Lykke'' on national Danish television. For several weeks the song was the number one download on Danish iTunes. It was number one on the Danish hit list and on the radio list, ending up earning her a Danish Music Award (''a Danish Grammy'') in the category "Hit of the Year".
Her second album ''
Escapism
Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism also may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or general s ...
'' was released 4 February 2013 in Denmark. It was followed by ''
Perfect Tense
The perfect tense or aspect (abbreviated or ) is a verb form that indicates that an action or circumstance occurred earlier than the time under consideration, often focusing attention on the resulting state rather than on the occurrence itself. A ...
'' in February 2016. In 2019 she switched from company labels to self-publishing, using her own record label to publish her fourth full album ''All My Eyes Are Open'' in November 2020, and in 2023 her fifth album ''Celeste''.