Any Californian who has, at some point in their lives, had to live somewhere else for an extended period of time (a terrifying prospect) would no doubt relate to the words of singer-songwriter Rebecca Mimiaga. After spending two years in New York studying jazz, coming back to the Bay Area must have been an invigorating experience. The ode to her native California from her EP Words in the Dark is a haunting lament about being away from home for too long, missing the rolling hillsides, exhilarating sunshine and majestic coast of this great (albeit rather dry) state.

The rest of the EP is full of melancholia-tinged chamber pop, with mournful vocal melodies, beautiful string arrangements and lyrics swirling with ornate imagery, aching emotion and sometimes painfully revealing personal observations. Mimiaga succeeds at balancing minimal instrumentation with an intense passion simmering just beneath the surface of a voice that can, at turns, be eerily subdued, quietly captivating and dramatically explosive. You can check out the entire EP here.