Kevin Bronson on March 20th, 2019

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Over the past three years, L.A. native August Eve has been spreading the gospel of The Torch Song, while supporting other artists in the burgeoning Latinx music community. Today she unveiled her strongest work yet, the singles “You Already Know” and “Know Better.”

The 21-year-old, who self-produces her music and played all the instruments on the new songs, describes her sound as “an amalgamation of synths, vintage-inspired rhythms, and stacked vocals all glossed over with a heavy dose of reverb.” Indeed, there’s throwback, timeless warmth emanating from the new singles, both in the production and her milky vocals. It was clear from the beginning that Eve — who taught herself to play piano, guitar and bass as a young girl and got her singing start in her Catholic school choir — had a firm grip on the past. One of her early online releases was a cover of the Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer classic “Moon River.”

Her first official releases since her debut single “Ghost” 2 1/2 years ago, the new songs aren’t weighted by the past, although they do bear faint echoes of the girl-group era. A more believable Lana Del Rey? Maybe. Flashbacks to the luxuriantly gowned torch sings of the past? Certainly.

Eve has an EP on the way later this year.

||| Stream: “You Already Know” and “Know Better”