Rising avant-pop singer-songwriter MARIA Die RUHE has released her latest single, ‘Skin’ on the 24th of February via Reduced To The Root. The single follows the release of the artist’s recent single, ‘Art Is The Only Real Translation Of Living For Me’. The producer has performed on several different stages across Europe, including Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, and Turkey, each time bringing new energy to her set. Although the songstress has only been releasing music for a few years, she’s already collected just under 6.5 million plays on Spotify alone, with the number rising by the day.
The singer is from Thuringia, Germany previously lived in both Berlin, San Francisco, as well as London and is now based in Leipzig, Germany once more. While creating her unique sound, MARIA Die RUHE loses herself in different sonic realms, never minding the genre and recognising the works of Frank Wiedemann, Stimming, Dominik Eulberg, Elder Island, Sylvan Esso, James Blake, SOHN and The Knife to name a few. Her own sound calls to mind the unusual sounds of Röyksopp, Lykke Li and MØ.
In her single ‘Skin’, MARIA Die RUHE describes the long and painful way from rejecting her own body to loving herself unconditionally. During her journey, she discovered some things within herself that she didn’t like. She faced them anyway and turned the pain into sound. The music is power, and it lends her strength, allowing her scars to turn into art. The progressive artist fights stereotypes, standing against being reduced down to her body and rejecting the idea of being seen as an Instagrammable, thoroughly designed product. Instead, she wants to be acknowledged as an individual.
Maria Die RUHE provides further insight into the story behind the single: “I disliked my body for the longest period of my life for different reasons. I was always ashamed of getting undressed first in school sports, later with lovers. A lot of women share this phenomenon. This is insane. Today, I know that I am perfect as I am and beautiful. Do you like this vehicle you were born into? Your body? Your body is a magical machine with incredible functions and huge abilities to learn, develop, change. It is always there for you. You are your body and your body becomes the thoughts you are giving to it. With ‘SKIN’, I am rounding up my life and travelling the transformation of making peace with my body and loving and nurturing it as it is. My body. The only one I have in this life.”