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Masha Qrella, "Luck"
The debut solo release from Berlin-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Masha Qrella (Contriva, Mina) is a collection of relaxed pop songwriting, based mostly around the acoustic guitar and vocals approach. Once layered with drum loops, keys, synth patches, punchy bass and the odd electric guitar, the disc's eleven tunes tend to flourish nicely while maintaining their straight-ahead direction, showcasing the compositions.
Recorded mostly in secret at her home throughout 2001-02, Qrella's delicate, breathy vocals and guitar are augmented with her own instrumental overdubs, some of which employ sounds from a recording session with her band Contriva. The most obvious being a couple of very basic two-bar drum loops that form the root of the rhythm section for the bulk of the disc becomes monotonous at times. The catchy "I Want You to Know" sings of the conclusions from a past relationship, leading off with a looping guitar that builds into an arrangement of poppy progressions and subtle, clever hooks and sparingly used stop and start rhythms. The laid back "I Don't Like Her" revolves mostly around a simple, yet tense two-chord progression of heavy-handed guitars in which some interesting leaps in vocal melodies and phrases are played off. The 6+ minute "Hypersomnia" opens with a jangly acoustic guitar progression that quickly turns dark and draws in a slow drum machine and sub bass layered with synth strings while stating "Don't wake me up/Not yet/I've got at least one hour left" as an almost slumber mantra. Most of these songs are quite enjoyable. The main reason that I found this disc to be uneasy at times was the lack of variety in the rhythm section and the use of too many stops and starts which interrupt the flow of some sincere musical ideas. A full band on some tracks could have expanded the dimensions of this disc from good to great.
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