A few months back I featured an artist that was experimenting with various eras and styles, Ronika, who through a series of EPs made a mark with catchy pop-based jams that heralded various styles. Thanks to reading a random Rich Juzwiak Gawker article, I may have found a kindred spirit in Sky Ferreira.

Her earlier work more directly connects to Ronika’s output, with dancey-jams that have an old-school vibe to them. “Everything is Embarrassing,” above, has old school synth beats, tight harmonies and a moody layer of piano that coalesces into a pretty tasty throwback pop song. Below, “99 Tears” perhaps tops it with an even stronger beat that’s a bit more modern but works really well.

Having been working through some of her songs over the past few days, I think I favor the two above over some of the newer music, although that’s not to say there’s not a lot to like about her first full-length album, “Night Time, My Time,” which evolves towards indie rock and new wave (which aren’t that far removed, after all), and yielded tracks such as “I Blame Myself,” below.

The album came about after Ferreira asked for an opportunity to go back into the studio after completing an earlier version, so she could revamp things, and evolve her sound. Songs like “You’re Not the One” (below) make me think of other great songs (such as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” which isn’t a bad thing at all.

Most of her output (some of the EPs are now gone) can be found on iTunes, and is worth checking out.

Additional listening

Once you hear both of these tracks back to back, the connection, at least to me, seems obvious enough. It’s the strongest one out of those I caught, but I hear other elements in her album that feel like either intentional or accidental call-outs to tracks that preceded her.