Safia's love for Metallica is only one dimension of the eclectic tastes that inform her work (other favorite artists include Nirvana, Amy Winehouse and John Coltrane). Those open-minded sensibilities make for a deliciously varied palette on Love Kills, which moves from sexy Trap&B to vocal-driven art pop to a throwback sound steeped in '80s Oakland R&B acts, like Tony! Toni! Toné! and Sheila E. (Tony! Toni! Toné!'s Raphael Saadiq is a major influence; Safia recorded her first EP, Pure, at his studio, Blakeslee.)

It took Safia a while to hone in on her bright, airy vocal style. When she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her music dreams 10 years ago, she spent years locking herself in a makeshift recording booth in her closet, experimenting with vocal techniques without the input of engineers or producers. In many ways, her zigzagging path to her music career—which included many unglamorous day jobs and dropping out of a music journalism program in college—put her in the position to write the wise, thoughtful lyrics that give Love Kills its strength.

While the sunny, playful "Weed & Wine" is about the kind of sexual partner we've all told ourselves is a bad idea but hooked up with anyway, other tracks on Love Kills deal with the most trusty BS-repellent one can arm oneself with in life: self-love. On "Little Darling," she gently coaxes herself to stay motivated: "You still have some fight in you left / And your light shines brighter than them all," she sings as tenacious horns and sweeping strings buoy her soft coos.

Safia says she owes a big part of her inner confidence to her regular therapy sessions. She's not afraid to talk about them openly, either—it's about time mental health stopped being a taboo subject, she says.

"Newsflash, we all have issues, so what about it? I’m just doing something about mine," she says with half-joking annoyance. "Therapy has really helped me musically because I can now talk about other things, I can express myself in a broader way."

That's why on Love Kills, she says, she doesn't restrict the definition of love to the romantic variety, using the concept more broadly to sing about love of self, love of one's hometown and love of the black community.

"The unhealthy side is love can kill you self-esteem; love can kill your spirit; love can kill your self-worth," she says. "But on the positive side, love can kill hate; love can kill self-doubt; love can kill the naysayers."