Los Angeles-based singer, songwriter and producer Julia Gartha has released her new six-track EP, California’s Killing Me. Blending pop, indie, folk, and singer-songwriter influences, California’s Killing Me pairs Gartha’s honest, conversational songwriting with the emotionally direct, modern production of Caleb Dee, who produced and co-wrote the EP.

Written during a stagnant chapter of her life in Los Angeles, the project captures the complicated reality of building a life somewhere you’ve simultaneously loved, resented, and struggled to imagine leaving. Exploring homesickness, nostalgia for the familiar, and the urge to start over, the EP reflects the challenges of chasing a dream while questioning whether you’re in the right place. On “Not In The Room,” the EP’s focus track, Gartha explores similar uncertainty in a long-distance relationship, questioning whether someone who gives the bare minimum even misses her when she’s gone. On “Itching for Change,” she looks inward, reckoning with her desire to move forward in both her personal life and career, even when the path ahead is uncertain.

Throughout the EP, Gartha considers how distance can change the way we see the people and places we love. “‘California’s Killing Me’ is ultimately about being caught between the life you have, the life you miss, and the life you’re still trying to build,” she says.

Born in Ontario, Canada, Gartha began piano lessons at 10 and writing songs at 12, developing an ear for music by learning to play songs off the radio. After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2019, she co-wrote and performed on Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman’s “Hands Around the World,” a global climate change awareness anthem released for Earth Day 2020. The two later reunited for “Rock-a-Bye Baby,” the closing track of the 2021 Netflix film Mimi.

In addition to her work as an artist and songwriter, Gartha is a sought-after backing vocalist, currently on the road with Harry Styles on the “Together, Together” Tour. Her credits include Daniel Caesar, Chappell Roan (SNL), Olivia Rodrigo (Tiny Desk) and Sabrina Carpenter (Coachella), underscoring her versatility as both a live and studio performer. She has also written songs for Jonita Gandhi, Ariza, and Janani K. Jha. Her music has found a wide audience online as well: she’s one of the top creators in Meta’s Commercial Music Library, with hundreds of thousands of Reels made using her songs, and has built an audience of over 74K monthly listeners on Spotify.

With California’s Killing Me, Gartha brings her breadth of experience back to her own songwriting, turning a deeply personal chapter of her life into six songs that find connection in the uncertainty of figuring out what comes next.

California’s Killing Me is available now on all streaming platforms.

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