Elizaveta - 'Elizaveta' (EP)

L.A.-based, classically-trained (sm)art/pop-stress (and self-described "diva in training") Elizaveta was born in New York but spent her formative years in Moscow, raised on a musical diet of opera and the classics while honing her own precocious skills in poetic lyricism and sophisticated piano songcraft. Forthcoming eponymous 5-track EP (September 27, Universal Republic), a sampler of sorts from her forthcoming 2012 longplayer, confidently crisscrosses charming artisan pop styles, soaring aria-styled choral breaks and cabaret-styled drama with a surprisingly deft, light touch...

Producer Greg Wells (Colbie Caillat, Natasha Bedingfield) wisely helps keep things pop-melody-centered, Elizaveta's striking multi-octave vocals soaring above a swirling, charging array of instruments on lead track "Dreamer" or exploring some soulful torch in the shadowy "Meant". Indie pop drive goes front and center in the hooky "Nightflyers" while the tin-pan-alley-styled "Snow In Venice" sounds like tune that could be heard wafting out of some late night continental cafe. As formidable as her real name -- Elizaveta Igorevna Khripounova -- we find the EP is unapologetically eclectic without the scent of cloying pretension.

Elizaveta - "Dreamer" (from the Elizaveta EP)

Elizaveta - "Meant" (from the Elizaveta EP)