Seraphina Lotkhamnga on December 19th, 2011

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On her forthcoming fifth album, Sara Radle thinks big. Whereas 2010’s “Four” was notable for the kind of lush strings and orchestral sweep we heard in “Song For Adam,” Radle’s new “Same Sun Shines” (due out Feb. 21) introduces itself with the sharp power-pop number “The Pins.” The song features the declaration “I’ll do this without you” – appropriate for an album on which Radle made in true DIY fashion, playing every instrument. Radle, a key ingredient in the Rentals from 2005 to ’08 and in the L.A. indie-pop outfit Walking Sleep ever since, continues to sample from every genre of pop (she can be a little bit punk as effortlessly as a little bit folk), and this new album not only boasts a cover of “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” but features a duet with indie songstress Mary Lou Lord (whom we remember well from the ’90s).

||| Download: “The Pins”