Justine Electra (born Justine Beatty) is an Australian-born multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and tech house DJ. She is based in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany. Her debut album, ''Soft Rock'' was released in June 2006 to a positive reception. The second album, ''Green Disco'', appeared in December 2013.

Biography

Justine Electra grew up in Melbourne and attended Wesley College. From 2000 she has been based in Berlin where she was to "hone a style of acoustic guitar-driven electro-pop that welcomed comparisons to

Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap ( ; born 9 December 1977) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur. She is considered a pioneer in pop music, particularly electropop, and in music technology. While attending the ...

and

Regina Spektor Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (, ; born February 18, 1980) is a Russian Americans, Russian-born American singer, songwriter, and pianist. After self-releasing her first three records and gaining popularity in New York City's Indie music scene, in ...

." She was signed to

City Slang Records City Slang is an independent record label based in Berlin, Germany. History The independent music label City Slang was founded in 1990 as a European outpost for American indie rock. Thirty years later, the imprint represents a diverse roster o ...

in 2006. Her debut album, ''Soft Rock'', appeared on 9 June 2006. Heather Phares of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

rated the album at four-out-of-five stars and observed, "with her smooth, breathy alto and acoustic guitars gliding over synths and understated electronic rhythms, she comes across as a more lighthearted cross between

Cat Power Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer-songwriter. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a solo artist. Born in ...

and

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (located ...

, or

Beth Orton Elizabeth Caroline Orton (born 14 December 1970) is an English musician known for her "folktronica" sound, which mixes elements of folk and electronica. She was initially recognised for her collaborations with William Orbit, Andrew Weatherall ...

with a more eccentric songwriting style." ''Soft Rock'' was voted one of the top ten most important albums of 2006 by

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

, and Andreas Borcholte wrote that "there really hasn't been a more unagitated record this exciting this year." Clash magazine observed that "hissing percussion and soft strummed guitar sit behind Electra’s rich, bluesy American-influenced voice, but this basis is transformed track by track by imagination and experimentation." Justine Electra's music has featured in several films, TV series, and documentaries, including episodes of

The L Word ''The L Word'' is a television drama series that aired on Showtime in the United States from 2004 to 2009. The series follows the lives of a group of lesbian and bisexual women who live in West Hollywood, California. The premise originated wit ...

, and acclaimed German fil
Mein Vogel Fliegt Schneller
(2009). Her cover version of Will Oldham's

I See a Darkness ''I See a Darkness'' is the sixth studio album by American musician Will Oldham, and his first album under the name Bonnie "Prince" Billy. It was released on January 19, 1999 by Palace Records. The album features appearances from Bob Arellano, C ...

closes out the credits of Till Kuenzel's documentary ''SubBerlin - Underground United'' about iconic techno club

Tresor TRESOR (recursive acronym for "TRESOR Runs Encryption Securely Outside RAM", and also the German word for a safe) is a Linux kernel patch which provides encryption using only the CPU to defend against cold boot attacks on computer systems by perf ...

. Electra's second album, ''Green Disco'', was issued on 6 December 2013 via Neun Volt Records. Justine Electra has collaborated with many prominent musicians in Berlin's music scene, including

Robot Koch Robert Koch (born 7 October 1977), best known by the stage name Robot Koch, is a German, Los Angeles–based artist, composer, and record producer. Koch made a name for himself as a member of the band Jahcoozi before launching as a solo artist. ...

, Robert Kretzschmar, Jens Friebe, Andre Abshagen, Julie Miess, Juli Holz,

Lars Eidinger Lars Eidinger (; born ) is a German actor and rapper, based in Berlin. He has appeared in German and international film and television productions, including the 2020 film '' My Little Sister'', the German series '' Babylon Berlin'' (2017–2022) ...

, Masha Qrella,

Schneider TM Dirk Dresselhaus (born 28 August 1970 in Bielefeld), better known by his stage name Schneider TM, is a German musician from Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in ...

, Vredeber Albrecht, Stephan Rühl, and Gerd Krüger. She records her music either at home in her studio or at Gerd Krüger'
Tritonus Studio
in Berlin Kreuzberg or at Soundtrax Studio in Schoeneberg. Justine Electra made her film debut in 2006 in an episode of the highly acclaimed German crime series "Soko Köln" in the episode "Der Dicke Fisch".

Discography

Albums
Soft Rock
(2006)
Green Disco
(2013) Singles and EPs
Blues & Reds
(2006)
Fancy Robots
(2006)
Killalady
(2007)
Petting Zoo
(2012)
Great Skate Date
(2013)
Christmas In Berlin
(2018)

Soundtracks

* ' (2007) * ''SubBerlin'' - Underground United (2008) * ''

'', Season 6, Episodes 02 and 03 (2009) * ''Mein Vogel fliegt schneller'' (2009) * '' Meine Freiheit, Deine Freiheit'' (2011) * ''Von Bienen und Blumen'' (2018) * ''Electric Girl'' (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Electra, Justine Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian women singer-songwriters Australian singer-songwriters People educated at Wesley College (Victoria)