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LP
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MORR 145LP
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LP version. Includes download code. Berlin-based musician Masha Qrella's fifth album, Keys, finds her elegantly fusing disco-pop and songwriting. Written and produced by Qrella in her studio within one year, the album's 11 songs feature well-known elements of fragility, perfection, and understatement, while walking a fine line between laconic coolness and passionate, up-tempo melancholia. There is a new straightforwardness in how Qrella sings about break-ups, new beginnings, and keys; "Please don't give me your keys / 'Cause I don't wanna have to give them back again," goes the refrain of the title-track, which features deliberately sparse instrumentation unexpectedly interrupted by the noise of traffic and construction sites -- one of those little surprising twists that have always been crucial to Qrella's music. While her earlier solo albums relied on more electronic elements, stumbling beats, and sonic textures, Qrella now puts emphasis on her voice and songwriting. Every sort of shyness seems to have vanished. One gets the feeling that Qrella is breaking new personal ground on this album. Every song on Keys captures an immediate and open-hearted quality that Qrella has not quite revealed before. With this album, Masha Qrella creates a very distinct version of pop music, subtly channeling her love for Elliott Smith, Neil Young, AIR, and Metronomy but always staying true to herself.
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