Kevin Bronson on December 5th, 2019

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Ever since she released her debut EP in 2013, Highland Park native Irene Diaz has captivated with her stark love songs, delivered in a honeyed voice, intimate and direct like a heart-to-heart conversation.

Her forthcoming debut album “Lovers & Friends,” though, dials up everything — call it Next Level Irene.

Consider Diaz’s new single “Another Observer,” the album’s lead track, arriving Tuesday via Cosmica Artists, home to artists such as Carla Morrison, the Marías, the Red Pears and Loyal Lobos. It’s a fully realized modern pop confessional, with the torch she carries for her love interest burning brightly over the soundscape fashioned by producers Alejandro and Demian Jimenez. It’s a bold initiation to her new aesthetic.

It was through the Latin Grammy-winning Morrison (who executive-produced the album) that Diaz met the Jimenez brothers, and the singer-songwriter worked with them in Mexico City over a span of two years to make the album. “When I first started this project back in 2017, I had this idea the music was going to be very much like Adele, very gospelly, and it took a twist from there,” Diaz says. “They just pulled apart my songs, which is something I wanted. I wanted to challenge myself and break away and see what someone else could do, and I really got that.”

But, she adds, “It was difficult for me to do it. The songs had been written and I thought they were the best they could be, but (the Jimenezes) pushed me and there was a lot of push and pull, but I’m really happy with where they took me and how they came out.”

As for the fiery “Another Observer,” Diaz says it’s “about an unrequited crush I had on a friend. I was 23 and it was my first experience with a girl. Working on this song in the studio brought me back to those dramatic feelings.”

“Lovers & Friends” will be out in 2020.

||| Stream: “Another Observer”

||| Previously: “This Cannot Be”