Released June 19th through the Killer Tracks Artist Series, Tamar Kaprelian’s California EP, is a follow up to Sinner Or Saint, the debut Full-Length album released by Interscope Records. The 5 song album sticks close to what you’d expect from the title, with catchy pop melodies, breezy, relaxed arrangements, and a hint of sadness and false promises, an aspect of California that makes it such an interesting topic for pop writing going all the way back to ‘California Dreaming’ and ‘Do You Know The Way To San Jose?’

You can stream the whole album for free here on AOL.com or purchase from Amazon MP3.

I bought Tamar’s first album before I had ever heard her music. I was in Barnes & Noble browsing and my attention was caught by her album cover. At the time, I had some extra cash in my wallet, so I said to myself, ‘This is a beautiful girl sing-songwriter. I normally like beautiful girl singer-songwriters, so I might as well buy it!” Which is actually not the only time I did that (the other being Adele’s 19, which I hated almost as much as I eventually hated her follow up, 21). Luckily, however, this time went well for me. I fell in love with her soft and sweet voice, her simple melodies, and her often adventurous arrangements. One song on Sinner or Saint, has Tamar’s voice accompanied only by a dense and intricate string section, as opposed to her normal piano driven pop band.

Needless to say, I’ve been eagerly awaiting this new EP, and although it is not as musically adventurous as her debut, the songs are still great. As I mentioned earlier in this post, this album’s version of California, with the exception of ‘Good Times’, is the kind that is sweet and perfect on the surface, but sad and lonely on the inside. Even when she sings in the title track “And California skies are always blue“, it is sung with a kind of melancholy and regret, sending off her lover to a better life than one with her. Pretty heavy stuff actually for an album of such easy to swallow pop songs. It’s that kind of sophistication and balance that makes Tamar Kaprelian a great songwriter and one to watch out for in the next few years.