Singer-songwriter and violinist Kimia Penton has found her laneway combining pop music with a jazzy Middle-Eastern influence. Born in the Middle-East, raised in London and now living in Dallas, Texas, Penton’s voyaging way of life and experience of various cultures translates into a worldly sound, but Penton ensures that accessibility always remains at the fore.

Her latest six-track EP Lessons From Life and Love is a tender, stripped back collection. Penton establishes this tone from the outset; opening track ‘My Kind of Love’ is an acoustic guitar and violin-led ballad that sways with subtle tension: “Can’t grant you any wishes, won’t promise you the stars/But don’t you ever question if my heart beats only for you – it beats only for you”. Lyrically, ‘My Kind of Love’ contains the sort of lines you’d see in a more ‘happy’, romantic song, but here Penton has penned the tune in an unexpectedly somber setting that lends her words a greater sense of depth. In fact, this mood is heard on most of the album: ‘Pieces’ details the pain of heartbreak atop a canvas of strumming guitar: “You played your part with perfection, I saw the reflection of everything I thought I needed/But you were rehearsed and I was the target”. Penton uses the song’s chorus to create a world music-inspired sound, which sits somewhere between Eastern and Bollywood-sounding with its acoustic percussion. Arriving at the second half of the record, ‘Crossroads’ takes a Randy Newman-inspired direction while ‘Start Again’ is one of the poppiest songs on the EP, showcasing some of Penton’s finest, silky smooth vocal work.

As its title suggests, Lessons From Life and Love an introspective record. Kimia Penton’s vulnerability gives life to a raw, warm sound that is palpably honest and refreshing.