Kevin Bronson on February 24th, 2015

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L.A. native Lena Fayre is not yet out of her teens, but she sings like she’s lived three lifetimes of disquietude, alternately woozy and weary, dreamy and hopeful, piquant and playful. Her 2014 album “Oko” displays substantial production sophistication, with its refracted pop, R&B and balladry, and it also suggests Fayre is beyond her years lyrically. Take the half-spoken, half-rapped outro to “Games:” “Who needs a brain / when we have these games? / I don’t know what I want / so for now I’ll stay the same.” Fayre is far from a one-teenager show; she’s worked with producers John Alagia, Sean Gould, Jimmy Harry, Chris Keup and Nolan Sipe; co-written with people such as Olga Bell, Sanders Bohlke, Colin Killalea, Liz Phair and Adam Smith; and Bon Iver’s Reggie Pace and solo artist Matthew E. White collaborated on the album as well. She’s also studied under acclaimed vocal coach Lis Lewis. So even if Fayre’s actual identity remains fuzzy at this point, “Oko” earns an “A” for execution. She’s already back in the studio with producers Daniel Heath (Lana Del Rey) and Noah Georgeson (Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart) on a new EP.

||| Also: Watch the video for “I Am Not a Man” below: