Michelle Gurevich is a Canadian singer-songwriter who was born in 1980 in Toronto, Ontario. She was raised in a Russian-speaking household by parents who were immigrants from the Soviet Union; her father was an engineer and her mother was a ballerina. Gurevich worked as a film editor for ten years before beginning her musical career in 2005, recording her first tracks in her bedroom. She originally performed under the stage name Chinawoman, a moniker chosen as a joke when using recording software. Her debut studio album, Party Girl, was released (2007) and became a significant hit in the Russian independent scene. Her musical style is characterized as slowcore or lo-fi pop and is influenced by her Russian heritage. In 2016, Gurevich adopted her real name for all future releases following criticism regarding cultural appropriation related to her former stage name. Her subsequent recordings include the studio albums New Decadence (2016), Exciting Times (2018), Ecstasy in the Shadow of Ecstasy (2020), and It Was the Moment (2024). She has also lived and worked in Copenhagen, Denmark.