I was sharing my obsession with Ellis‘ song It’ll be Alright with a friend, and she put me onto Berlin artist Thala. The song she shared was Serenade from 2020, and I was hooked immediately:

Thala is hustler – she started playing on the streets of Berlin in 2019 and she’s been on a steady positive trajectory since. It’s easy to see why. She’s born to do it. Her voice is full of character, often sounding like a throwback to the 60’s or 70’s. Here’s a stripped down, live recording of Moonlight Shadows, her first commercial release:

Her latest EP, twotwentytwo, was released last November, it’s a more robust and polished sound, but the songwriting is as strong as ever. The title track is the one that I’ve been stuck on, though the whole thing is good: