Born a raised in California, Melinda Ortner, moved to Los Angeles five years ago to launch a music career with her own brand of soulful and melodic pop.

Delightfully demure and charming, she really impresses with a live rendition of the self-penned Sometimes. The piano melody reminds me somewhat of Coldplay, her hauntingly sweet but catchy lyrics can be placed somewhere in between Katie Melua and Katy Perry and the modest way she presents herself reminds me of Tori Amos.

Playing in Brighton for Balcony TV and dressed simply in a plain white t-shirt in jeans, Melinda lets the music – and her talent – speak for itself. She creates a wealth of atmosphere with just a keyboard and her voice, on a chilly balcony by the coast. If Keane’s Tom Chaplin was female, I think he’d sound a lot like this. Her lyrics tell the story of the dream she so desperately wants to achieve; of a woman who is driven by her desire to perform but is also still extremely down to earth. She possesses such a powerful voice and yet it still shakes when she stops singing, though what she has to be nervous about is unclear.

Her YouTube channel features over a hundred videos which explore the dark side of pop in a refreshingly frank and honest way, something which has already earned her MTV’s Steal the Spotlight Award and a place on an American Pie soundtrack. She’s toured Britain, Japan and America spreading her message and isn’t anywhere near done yet.

Her debut EP Strangers is out very soon on Monday 17^th September and features her most famous single to date Sweet Little Lies. It’s a must for all fans of melody-infused pop, keyboards and great live music.