Coming from Berlin, this year is the new release, Analogies, from songwriter Masha Qrella. This is the fourth album produced since her first debut, Luck, in 2002. The 10-track masterpiece showcases Qrella’s aspirations of focus on the more vocal aspect of her music.
The introduction of the album involves a comforting, clean guitar with no distortion, effects of a fading away sound, and an emulation of rainfall and the mist that follows it on a humid evening. All throughout the disc’s content, the instruments and their effects demonstrate an American Western influence that works nicely with the self-contributing harmonies that Qrella produces vocally. There are only small amounts of electronics within the songs, allowing them to stay true to the less-modern style of indie pop music that Masha’s style belongs to. There are two takes of the track “Fishing Buddies,” as alternate versions with different tempos and riffs divide one heartfelt song into two different emotions. Although her music is clearly indie, there are certainly other styles of music incorporated into some of the songs on Analogies. A good example of this is the song “Take Your Time,” with its jazz style drumming and incorporation of brass instruments, specifically a trumpet section. Within “Bluebottle,” there is a very magical sounding high-pitch wave that slowly plummets immediately before the chorus transcends into a groove that is truly moving.
For anyone looking to discover an album that is both soothing and more vocally active, Analogies just may be what you are looking for. The release takes a slightly different direction from her previous, more acoustic albums. Masha Qrella does a great justice to herself as a musician with the production of her new work that will hopefully become timeless in and of itself.
In A Word: Analogical
