Erin McCarley seems like an ingénue, but she’s a pretty sharp career girl, too. The Nashville singer-guitarist sidestepped radio, where her kinda-jazzy/kinda-country/kinda-flaky stylings might not find purchase, by placing songs in coveted contexts like Grey’s Anatomy and He’s Just Not That Into You. Smart move: Her breathy, seductive voice and cosmically put-upon vibe fit the pensive moments in light romantic drama. The 29-year-old smolders politely on her debut (cowritten with a Music City pal), sprinkling orchestral decoration (a la Fiona Apple) atop knotty torch songs (a la Regina Spektor). She sees angels now and again, numbers herself among “The Empty,” follows through a life–is–like–The Wizard of Oz metaphor a little further than necessary and hurdles over man-oriented travails with pluckish clumsiness. Life hands her lemons, she turns them into very special episodes.

DOWNLOAD “Sticky Sweet,” “Pony, It’s Ok”