Masha Qrella (real name Mariana Kurella, born 1975 in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

) is a German singer-songwriter. Her music has been described as belonging to the genres of

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

and "a mixture of electronics and

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

Biography

Qrella's father was a Russian physicist and her mother was a German somnologist. Her musical career began with her playing with German bands Mina and Contriva.

Solo career

Qrella's solo debut album, ''Luck'', was released in 2004. It was followed by ''Unsolved Remained'', released in 2005. Patrick Sisson, writing for ''

XLR8R ''XLR8R'' (pronounced "accelerator") is a website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. It was originally also a print magazine. History and profile ''XLR8R'' was founded as a newsprint zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in S ...

'', compared this album's sound to the music of

Aimee Mann Aimee Elizabeth Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter. Over the course of four decades, she has released ten studio albums as a solo artist. She is noted for her sardonic and literate lyrics about dark subjects, often d ...

. In 2009, Qrella released "Speak Low: Loewe and Weill in Exile", a

covers album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as ...

consisting of Qrella's performances of songs originally by

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

and

Frederick Loewe Frederick Loewe ( ; born Friedrich "Fritz" Löwe, ; June 10, 1901 – February 14, 1988

. Qrella had been commissioned to produce the album by the

Haus der Kulturen der Welt The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), in English House of World Cultures, in Berlin is Germany's national center for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts, with a special focus on non-European cultures and societi ...

in celebration of its 50th anniversary. Eric Hill wrote in ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' that on this album, Qrella's tone "manages to capture both the hope and loneliness at the heart of the songs." Her fourth album, ''Analogies'', was released in 2012.

Discography

*''Luck'' (

Monika Enterprise Monika Enterprises is a Berlin, Germany-based independent record label. In 2001, Wallpaper magazine described the label's musical style as " cupying a twilight zone between electronic pop, easy listening and bedsit angst" and " earheading a new g ...

, 2002) *''Unsolved Remained'' ( Morr, 2005) *''Speak Low: Loewe and Weill in Exile'' (Morr, 2009) *''Analogies'' (Morr, 2012) *''Keys'' (Morr, 2016) *''Woanders'' (2021)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Qrella, Masha German pop musicians German women singer-songwriters German singer-songwriters Indie pop musicians 1975 births Living people Musicians from East Berlin 21st-century German women singers Morr Music artists