Adult Contemporary EP Release: Kimia Penton - Lessons from Life and Love (Independent - October 16, 2015)

EP Release: Kimia Penton - Lessons from Life and Love
(Independent - October 16, 2015)

Stream the EP on Soundcloud

Born in the Middle East, raised in the U.K. and now based in Dallas, Kimia Penton brings a world of influences to her latest release, Lessons from Life and Love (Independent - October 16, 2015). With a fluid vocal style that sounds easy and effortless (but is surely anything but) and is rich in tone and nuance, there are shades of Middle Eastern vocal stylings in the melody and harmonic structure - all disguised as jazzy adult contemporary pop. A very polished singer with a wide range of tone and expression, the songs rightfully focus on her strong vocals backed up by solid musical accompaniment.

Each track offers something different stylistically, with enough variation in rhythm, mood and tone to avoid the all too typical singer songwriter monotony. Kimia on violin adds a welcome texture to the usual mix of piano, guitar, drums and bass.

The lyrics - not surprisingly - cover love and human relationships with a level of insight that you'd expect from a singer who is also a psychologist. From Pieces,

You played your part with perfection
I saw the reflection
Of everything I thought I needed

Crossroads is a classic love lost ballad that combines a slow country-ish waltz measure with a jazzy harmonic feel. Kimia's violin is showcased on My Kind of Love, giving the track a nicely gypsy jazz groove. The last track - Start Again - covers more typical singer songwriter territory with acoustic guitar and piano to which she adds interesting vocal phrasing.

Kimia recently had the opportunity to travel to India to write and produce music with some local artists there, and will be releasing a world genre album and an electronic music album in 2016 as a result of those collaborations.

Members/Instruments: 
Kimia Penton - vocals, violin, songwriting; Wes Stephenson – bass; Leslie Williams Blum – piano; Kelyn Crapp – guitar; Francis Moka - percussion.

Tracklisting: 
1. My Kind of Love
2. The Door
3. Pieces
4. Crossroads
5. Start Again
6. Memories of you


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