HAROULA ROSE

So Easy

haroularose.com

Sometimes love is hard, like on “Only Friends,” the confused “Are we or aren’t we?” tune that leads off this excellent five-song EP. Other times it’s “So Easy,” as the Chicago-born, L.A.-based Rose sings on the title track, barely containing her joy amid an airy ’60s-pop backing. Either way, this singer and guitarist radiates hope and light, even on “Slow Dancing,” a moody (by this disc’s standards) country ballad whose moaning pedal steel and dark twang speak to the singer’s romantic longing. Rose closes with a stirringly spare version of “Wichita Lineman,” casting herself as the solitary figure forever stringing phone wire, keeping others connected at the expense of her own relationships.