Shot In The Dark

xPropaganda singer unveils a late-career gem. By Charles Waring

- By Charles Waring

Along with Marlene Dietrich, Nico, Nina Hagen, and Nena, Claudia Brücken belongs to an elite cadre of German “sängerinnen” whos music has smashed through intemational borders. But with just four albums to her name, she’s not exactly been prolific as a solo artist.

Brücken's solo albums don’t come along very often because she's a dedicated team player and a collaboration queen. After leaving German synth-pop pioneers Propaganda in 1986, she briefly became half of Act, an avant-pop duo with Thomas Leer, before unleashing her solo debut, 1991's Love And A Million Other Things. Following that, Brücken became an in-demand guest singer, making cameos with the likes of Oceanhead and Blank & Jones. Continuing to park her solo career on the back bummer, in the early 2000s, she teamed up with OMD's Paul Humphreys to form another electronic duo, Onetwo, before collaborating with avant-garde composer Andrew Poppy.

It wasn’t until 2012 that she released her second solo foray, The Lost Are Found, an intrepid Stephen Hague-helmed collection of cover versions. When her third solo album,