Maria Minerva

Channeling raw yet hazy disco energy with conceptual post-punk leanings, the Estonian-born Maria Minerva (born Maria Juur) joined the choice ranks of celebrated and critically acclaimed underground female electronic artists during the latter part of 2000s. Born in Tallinn in 1988, Minerva described her music as "21st century folk music" but her distinctive sound drew similarities to the reverb-laden hypnagogic pop created by Laurel Halo, LA Vampires, and Julia Holter. After studying Art History at the Estonian Academy of Arts and ditching her day job as a music and art critic, Minerva moved to London in 2009, where she attended Goldsmiths to complete an M.A. in aural and visual cultures, as well as pursuing the goal of becoming a recording artist. It was around this time that she was an intern at the music magazine The Wire. After assimilating her art background into her lo-fi electronic sound, she found a spiritual home on Amanda Brown's Not Not Fun label and in 2011 released Cabaret Cixous (named after the famed French writer and thinker Hélène Cixous), the cassette-only Tallinn at Dawn, and two 12"s — the Noble Savage EP and Sacred & Profane Love — on the NNF offshoot label 100% Silk. The following year saw the release of a collaboration with LA Vampires, The Integration, and another solo full-length, Will Happiness Find Me? After moving to Brooklyn, she returned in 2014 with Histrionic, one of her most assured and focused sets of songs.