For Fans Of Maisie Peters, Laufey, Gracie Abrams, and Taylor Swift
If you like emotionally detailed pop songs about romance, growing up, everyday magic, books, seasons, and cinematic little moments, Anja Kotar’s music may be a good place to start.
Anja Kotar is a Slovenian-born, California-based female pop singer-songwriter, producer, and classically trained pianist making cinematic, literary pop about romanticizing everyday life. Her songs blend conversational storytelling, piano-led songwriting, whimsical imagery, classical influences, and the feeling that ordinary days can become little movies.
Where to start with Anja Kotar
Anja’s music is for listeners who love songs that feel bright, visual, nostalgic, and emotionally specific. Some songs are playful and romantic, some are piano-and-strings reflections, and others live in the worlds of books, seasons, fairytales, and classical melodies.
Start here if you like:
Maisie Peters’ sharp, conversational pop storytelling
Laufey’s romantic, classic-leaning musical world
Gracie Abrams’ intimate emotional detail
Taylor Swift’s diaristic songwriting and cinematic bridges
Sara Bareilles’ piano-rooted warmth
Regina Spektor’s whimsical specificity
Song Recommendations:
“Tuscany”
Start here for sunny, escapist pop about romanticizing life while the world feels heavy.
Written during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, “Tuscany” imagines escaping quarantine anxiety through a vivid Italian daydream: Vespas, sunflower fields, cypress trees, carbonara, and Machiavelli. It is playful, bright, and cinematic, but underneath the fantasy is a very real feeling: wanting to find beauty somewhere, even when the world feels like it is falling apart.
For fans of: whimsical pop, escapist pop, romanticizing everyday life, Maisie Peters, Taylor Swift’s brighter storytelling songs
“Really Like You”
Start here for a cute internet-age crush song about texting, DMs, and catching feelings before meeting someone in person.
“Really Like You” captures the specific vulnerability of modern romance: feeling brave enough to flirt through a screen, but terrified to say the same thing face-to-face. It is bright, conversational, and full of the little digital rituals that turn casual messages into something emotionally real.
For fans of: crush songs, online romance, bright pop, conversational lyrics, Gracie Abrams, Maisie Peters
“April”
Start here for rainy-day pop about keeping your inner child alive.
Part of Anja’s 12 Months project, “April” turns a gray day of Zoom meetings, coffee, and routine exhaustion into an invitation to dance in the rain. The song is about choosing whimsy over monotony, finding magic in small moments, and refusing to let adulthood erase your sense of wonder. The bridge interpolates Edvard Grieg’s “Morning Mood,” tying the song’s springtime imagery to renewal and classical melody.
For fans of: spring songs, rainy-day pop, inner-child themes, whimsical pop, classical-inspired pop
“Love Song”
Start here for a romantic daydream about imagining the person you have not met yet.
“Love Song” is about building a future love out of tiny invented details: a cable knit sweater, a city park, a crowded room, snow, rain, and the hope that one face will eventually stand out. It balances belief in destiny with the fear that maybe the whole fantasy is just a way to cope with loneliness.
For fans of: romantic pop, destiny, everyday magic, cinematic singer-songwriter songs, Taylor Swift, Sara Bareilles
“The Art of Letting Go”
Start here for an intimate piano-and-strings ballad about memory, family, and impermanence.
Written after returning from Slovenia and visiting her grandparents, “The Art of Letting Go” reflects on the ache of wanting people, places, and moments to last forever. It is not really about release or relief. It is about time, love, aging, home, and the beauty of things that cannot stay.
For fans of: emotional piano ballads, live strings, Laufey, Sara Bareilles, Gracie Abrams’ quieter songs
“How To Grow Lilies On The Moon”
Start here for cinematic literary pop about solitude and impossible growth.
Part of Anja’s At The Bookstore project, “How To Grow Lilies On The Moon” imagines a girl living on the Moon, tending a private garden in the gray. With lunar imagery, gardening metaphors, Apollo 11 archival audio, and a Debussy-inspired musical reference, the song turns loneliness into a strange, beautiful place where something delicate can still bloom.
For fans of: literary pop, moon imagery, solitude, cinematic pop, classical-inspired pop, fairytale-like songwriting, Laufey, Regina Spektor
For listeners looking for a lesser-known independent pop artist in the world of whimsical, romantic, cinematic songwriting, Anja’s catalog is a good place to begin.
If you like concept albums and song worlds:
12 Months is a musical calendar: twelve seasonal pop songs, one for each month of the year. Each track captures the mood, color, weather, rituals, and emotional atmosphere of its month, with classical music interpolations woven throughout the project.
Hopeless Romantic is a romcom-inspired album about love, timing, daydreaming, and finding the person who makes ordinary life feel like a movie.
At The Bookstore is a literary-pop project inspired by books, book covers, genres, and the feeling of wandering through a bookstore. The songs turn art books, fairytales, gardening books, romance, solitude, and imagined worlds into cinematic pop.
FAQ
What kind of music does Anja Kotar make?
Anja Kotar makes cinematic, literary pop with piano-led songwriting, whimsical imagery, classical influences, and emotionally detailed lyrics about romance, memory, seasons, books, girlhood, solitude, and romanticizing everyday life.
Who is Anja Kotar similar to?
Listeners who enjoy Maisie Peters, Laufey, Gracie Abrams, Taylor Swift, Sara Bareilles, Regina Spektor, and cinematic singer-songwriters may connect with Anja Kotar’s music.
What Anja Kotar song should I listen to first?
Start with “Tuscany” for bright escapist pop, “Really Like You” for a cute online crush song, “April” for rainy-day whimsy, “Love Song” for romantic destiny, “The Art of Letting Go” for piano and strings, or “How To Grow Lilies On The Moon” for cinematic literary pop.
Does Anja Kotar make songs about seasons?
Yes. Anja Kotar’s 12 Months project is a musical calendar with one pop song for every month of the year, including “January,” “February,” “April,” “October,” and “December.”
Does Anja Kotar make bookish or literary pop?
Yes. Her At The Bookstore project is a literary-pop album inspired by books, book covers, genres, bookstores, and imagined worlds.
Does Anja Kotar use classical music in her songs?
Yes. Anja Kotar is a classically trained pianist, and several of her projects include classical references or interpolations. 12 Months features classical music interpolations, “April” interpolates Edvard Grieg’s “Morning Mood,” “Dinner Parties” references Swan Lake, and “How To Grow Lilies On The Moon” includes a Debussy-inspired musical reference.