Listen Up - Kerli

I got to see Kerli when she played Boston Gay Pride a few months ago (back in June and I’m only getting to this now?!? Oh god.), and she was <i>excellent</i>. Bout time I wrote her up!

Kerli hails all the way from Estonia, where she was signed to Universal, only to be dropped later in a label shuffle. She found her way to America, where she was picked up by Island Def Jam, a label that has fueled her career and is helping her take off.

Kerli’s first album, entitled ‘Love Is Dea’ came out way back in 2008, and it managed to chart in the US, despite the lack of a hit single. No matter, Kerli kept working at it, and the past year or two have been good to her. In 2010 she released a single “Army of Love” which made it to the #1 spot on the US dance charts, and was followed last year by “Zero Gravity”, which peaked at #6 on the same chart. Of course these have all done well in Estonia, but we’re not going to focus on the Estonian music scene all too much (mostly because I just know nothing about it).

Kerli’s music is completely unique. The music itself is in the vein of this new dark EDM/pop thing that’s going round, but she always puts her own spin on it. Comparing Kerli to someone else is silly, because there is no one else like her. Sometimes the music brings you to a dark place, sometimes the lyrics do. Other times you can find solace in what she is saying – Kerli has the thought that her music can be a community and everyone can have a space to be themselves, no matter how strange or outcasted they may be.

While some compare her to Lady Gaga for this (and her costumes and even music style), I won’t. I think she is different in many ways, and just because she is working to make everyone feel included, doesn’t make her a copycat.

And, side note – I <b>LOVE</b> that this is a new trend in the music industry. People being weirder and weirder for the sake of making it ok for anyone to be whatever they want. Artists singing about how it’s okay to look different or act different, and in fact encouraging it at their shows and for their fans. What better message can you give to the masses than “you’re perfect the way you are, keep doing it! You are loved!”?

Kerli has taken it one step further, naming her fans the “Moon Children” or something. She has “Moon Spots” on her, which you can see in every video and she wears them out for every performance. She has created this whole world for her and her fans to exist in when they listen to her music and watch her videos, and I think that is something spectacular not to be overlooked. What thought and attention to detail must go into everything she does! Wow.

Kerli’s got some excellent emo/non-emo/dance tunes out, and here are a few:

The music may lean more towards the dark/emo side as you go on, as that is her older stuff. She gets lighter and more positive as her career goes on (almost the reverse of what a lot of people do).

Kerli is all over the web, so check her out:

Kerli <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Kerli">Facebook</a>