CREDIT: AMBERLIE BANKOFF
The self-titled EP from Crystal Sister is as fearless as it is listenable. She marries indie with mainstream with ease.

I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. Throughout history, the modern advances that have been made by accident are astounding. The world of music is no different, and without even realizing it we enjoy the sounds of happy accidents in our favourite albums all the time.

That said, the way that Crystal Sister – the moniker of Los Angeles- based Sonya Bender – marries lo-fi indie chill with mainstream pop nuances is certainly no accident. Bender and producer Daniel Luttrell, another songwriter known for his work with Sky Ferreira, collaborated to fuse the genres on the eponymous EP, which was released independently on October 3.

Comprised of three songs – including “Inside My Heart” and “Take My Hand,” the latter of which was named Track of the Day by UK tastemakers Killing Moon in September – the EP is a fresh and potentially addictive listen, the result of what Bender describes as a life inspired.

“I’ve been making music my whole life,” Bender said, who has lived in L.A. since she was 17. “I grew up in a musical family that really encouraged me to sing and express myself. I was just always surrounded by interesting, creative people that really fostered my interest in art – like playing guitar with my dad growing up, he taught me a lot when I was young about the craft of songwriting.”

Bender made the decision a few years ago to step back from live performances to focus on writing and composing new music. That focus was complemented when she met Luttrell by chance, and the two quickly found a musical chemistry.

“It was one of those random meetings, we hit it off from the beginning,” she said. The two shared influences in retro ‘80s pop and found inspiration in some of the technology and recording techniques of landmark pop albums of decades past, employing authentic drum machines and similar gear on the album.

“[Luttrell] and I had a similar taste and vision as far as the kind of music we were interested in making,” she said. “We got to talking and sharing music, it was so organic – we both loved fuzzy, reverbed-out indie stuff, but also really loved mainstream pop. That’s where this music started, with the idea of bridging those two sounds.”

The self-titled EP examines love and relationships in a very personal way – Bender admits that the songs were inspired by one individual, and the music is reflective of many different facets of the relationship that transpired. Although the sessions became pretty raw emotionally, they resulted in an EP that is as fearless as it is listenable.

“It was an interesting experience for me, because the whole thing was strange – sort of half-unrequited and half-realized,” Bender said. “I had never been so inspired by a person or event as much as I was with him. When Daniel and I were working on the EP, it was extremely raw, but I don’t really know another way, I live with my heart perpetually on my sleeve.”

Of the long-awaited release date, Bender admits to conflicting feelings of excitement and anxiety.

“It was extremely liberating, even just the day that we put the music on SoundCloud, because I had wanted to share it for a long time. But it’s also terrifying – just having that out there for everyone to hear and view, love or judge ... it’s a weird combination.”

“Mostly I’m excited, I worked really hard on this music and I love it, I want it out there,” she affirmed. “Now that everything has come to fruition, it’s interesting to look back – this music helped me to move on, and if I’ve taken anything away from the experience, it’s that sometimes someone can serve as a creative muse and that’s enough.”

For more on Crystal Sister and her new self-titled EP visit crystalsister.bandcamp.com or follow on Twitter @crystalsisterxo.

And for more of the latest music news, album streams and artist profiles, follow this column on Twitter @fsu_bobbyisms. Happy Halloween everyone. Be safe out there. I’m out of words.