I’ve been this close to writing about Lucky Break for a while, but I have an unwritten and completely arbitrary rule about including three singles when I include an artist here. Then last Friday she released her third single, “Red Balloon”, and, well, here we go:

There’s something about that song that I can’t get enough of. It’s a warm, summery, soothing song and it’s executed perfectly. Her voice has a slight Miley Cyrus sound to it, it’s hard to believe it’s coming from someone with “three more months of college” in front of her.

Lucky Break is also known as Emma Gerson — she’s from San Francisco and she seems to have spent a couple of years making soulful singer-songwriter music under her own name before changing gears.

The sound she’s adopted as Lucky Break is a little less traditional, a little more distinct and playful. It certainly has a lot of character and personality, and it hits me in a way that I didn’t expect.

Under the current brand, she has released three singles since February. The first is called “Honeysuckle”, and what grabbed me about it is the vocal. Lucky Break’s voice is so gorgeous and distinctive, that even though “Honeysuckle” is quite a bit outside my typical taste, I’ve been adding it to playlists for months. It always sticks out amongst the indie rock and weird electronic stuff, but every time it comes on I play it again, and again. It’s like a lullaby, like something from childhood. It’s simple and comforting, and it’s the kind of song that gets stuck in my head for hours and hours:

Apple Music tells me how many times I’ve listened to that song since it was added to my library in June. I’m not going to disclose it other than to say it’s somehow simultaneously too many and not enough.

Per the rule, there’s a third video, though it’s another song that connects with me on a surprisingly emotional level. This one’s called “Burning String”. Again, the melody in the chorus feels like something subconsciously familiar, like something I heard long ago:

I’m not sure what is coming next for her – she plays fairly regularly around Los Angeles but she hasn’t hinted at any major releases. The three singles so far are certainly promising.

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