Artist: Sara Bareilles

Title: Kaleidoscope Heart 

Label: Epic

While singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles promised she wasn't going to write us a love song on her jaunty little breakthrough hit two years ago, she does exactly that in her brand new album Kaleidoscope Heart.

Currently occupying the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Bareilles is still comfortable with wearing her heart on her sleeve in this collection of diary-like confessions, one reason why her songs have been chosen for the soundtrack to popular romantic comedies. It's clear, she's got a soft spot for love, and she's not afraid to tell you about it. But what inevitably separates her songs from the average guy-did-me-wrong-now-he's-gonna-suffer anthems is the playful, decidedly theatrical, accompaniment.

Whether she's boldly reminding her ex that she's not drowning in self pity now that he's gone in lead single "King of Anything," or wistfully wishing that she was pretty and brave in "Let it Rain", it's clear that Bareilles' background in university show choirs is being put to good use. Not only does she deliver each line with the dramatic gusto of the colorful, song-bursting characters of Glee, but her inventive piano arrangements are definitely more Broadway than your standard pop radio fare, a refreshing change of pace in the age of over-programmed singles.

While a little diversity in subject matter would definitely make the project a little more well rounded, Bareilles' ruminations on the travails and complications of modern relationships never stoop into that superficial, sugary territory. If anything, the now 30-year-old reminds us that yes, she's still got a lot to learn when it comes to navigating relationships, but she still isn't in any hurry to settle in the meantime—always a good reminder for anyone who's grown weary of waiting for someone promising on the horizon.

** This review first published on September 21, 2010