About
File under
Florence + The Machine, Weyes Blood, Aldous Harding
Free style
Post-rain pop
" Like kitchen conversations on a rainy autumn evening. "
Sometimes, we all need a little poetry. Something…deeper. Marie Hellstein is here to oblige. Blending alternative pop with indie rawness, poetry, and a flair for theatre, she turns kitchen-table confessions into songs that sting and soothe in equal measure. Think rainy-night philosophy, heartbreak with a sense of humour, and melodies that linger like perfume on a scarf. “A bit of laughter…a bit of Kafka,” she adds of her reflections on loss and self-discovery. “They’re raw and honest.”
Born in Kharkiv to a multicultural family with Ukrainian, Jewish, and Crimean Tatar roots, Hellstein has been performing since she could reach a piano; by nine, she’d released her first album and toured Ukraine as “Marie-Michelle”. Teenage years in Germany gave her a taste for writing in English, and for making art out of feeling like an outsider. She later trained as a theatre director, which explains her love of drama – onstage and in sound – and she writes, composes, performs, and directs every piece herself, crafting visuals as vivid as her lyrics.
When the full-scale war began, Marie was in Germany — but she came back. First to Kharkiv, then Kyiv. “I needed to create from here,” she says. That decision shaped everything that followed: a Jager Music Awards shortlist in 2023, Ukraine’s Na Yiyi Osnovi songwriting camp, and a 2025 signing with Pomitni. She’s also published a book of her poems. With her gaze firmly fixed on international recognition, and taking her music worldwide, she has a swagger and poise that’s reflected in her polished takes on pop – tunes that obviously sound great, but reward those who dig for details.
