Masha Qrella - Keys [Morr Music 145 Promo]

Forthcoming via Berlin's Morr Music on April 15th, 2016 is "Keys" , the fifth longplay effort in the solo career of Masha Qrella who, before going solo, had made some waves due to her participation in bands like Mina or Contriva. Going through the eleven songs of "Keys" one is immediately captivated by the ease and airiness of the lovely IndiePop of the opener "Ticket To My Heart", drawn to the centre of the dancefloor by the innocent IndieElectro of "Pale Days" and falls for the crystalline intimacy served by the albums title song. The "Simple Song" weighs in a sweet, playful variation on  underground Girly Pop with a hint of melancholia, the tense and thrilling atmosphere of "Girl" is a relict of Masha Qrella 's past engagement in instrumental only bands, fuses misty vibes with Twee Pop-referencing vocals to a Twin Peaks score-worthy result whilst "Rescue Pills" comes across in a fuzzy singer-songwriter manner and deals with... well, the daily paranoia of a nightlife butterfly, maybe? Riding "White Horses" the Berlin-based soloist gets lost in world of sweet, groovy Psychedelia, her trip to "Bogota" ends up on the Indie / PostPunk dancefloor, covered in classy disco glitz whilst admiring the "DJ" playing her favorite warm, embracing, and string-loaden mid-tempo song she had been waiting for all night. Finally "Sicily" sends us to better places with a laid back, slightly Reggae-/Dub-influenced offbeat attitude, before the closing "Why?" asks essential questions all lovers go through at certain points when things tend to get tricky. Defo a lovely album that says 'spring' like not many albums out there and surely will turn into a good friend and fellow compagnon over time. Recommended.