There are times in your life where, no matter how much you're actually doing, it feels as if everything is spiraling out of your grasp, like you'll never get everything done. My father calls it running in "shark mode." If you stop moving, you'll die, or, more probably, fall asleep. So after sleepwalking through most of last week, I sat down on Thursday night for a bit of relaxation, fixing my blank gaze on the reds, greens, and blues of America's favorite addiction, the television.

Of course, in the land of the cable-deprived, we don't have a whole lot of choices, so I settled on the "Top of the Charts" edition of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," featuring such powerhouse musical minds as Joey McIntyre and Huey Lewis. I don't know why I stopped there, but it seemed intriguing enough. What did I get out of that hour of my life? I learned that McIntyre can't count the number of vowels in a word. And I now know that Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go's doesn't know that Portugal owns the Azores. God, what a wasted evening.

Well, almost. After I extinguished the glow of the cathode tubes, I scooped a dish of ice cream (Edy's Fudge 'n' Cups. Highly recommended) and sat down in my room with Aroah. And for seventeen minutes, my evening was good. Cuando Termines Con Todo, Habrá Terminado Contigo translates to English as, "When you finish with everything, it will have finished with you." I think its meaning is supposed to be darker and more cosmic, but in my current mindset, this is a fantastic sentiment. When you're done with whatever it is you're doing, it'll be done with you. You'll never have to worry about it again. I would love it if that were true.

Aroah is the alias of Spanish-American songwriter Irene Rodriguez Tremblay, a bilingual 20-year-old who shows enormous promise for the future. Her songs are already subtle, thoughtfully layered and melodic, rendering her as a sort of modern Joni Mitchell in the making. Tremblay's intimate style and full, lilting voice are expertly complemented by the production input of labelmates Abel Hernandez and Coque Yturriaga (both members of Migala), who help create an exhausted, highly atmospheric environment for her tales of post-adolescent heartbreak and newfound independence. Despite a lot of its lyrical concerns, this is perfect music for those times when the world is just moving way too fast for you.

The fabulous "Come Home" opens things in an odd spot halfway between Mazzy Star's wasted, dust-blown psychedelia and Will Oldham's cracked folk. Mallet percussion and cymbals swell like a tide beneath the gently strummed acoustics. This is followed by the uptempo pop of "Recuerdos" ("Memories"), sung entirely en Espańol. It's a breezy, if all too brief excursion that serves as one of the EP's most enjoyable moments, reminiscent of Italian power poppers Plastico.

Cuando Termines's other Spanish language number, "Mi Sitio Esta Aqui" ("My Place Is Here") is even better, veering back toward Oldham territory with its sparse piano and incorporating an amusing sample of an American newscaster reporting on a fireworks celebration mistaken for a Martian invasion. "Eder, Simone" is full of gorgeous Spanish guitar that masks Tremblay's most pointed lyrics, which feature lines like, "You make me feel like shit/ I love you," and, "I close my eyes when we have sex and think of someone else." Ouch.

Throughout Cuando Termines, Tremblay deftly plays with dynamics and atmosphere, even coming close to the darkness of Slint on "320," though it avoids the dread of that band. As the lullaby of "Fade" (ahem) faded out on Thursday night, I felt that certain rejuvenation that only music seems able to provide, and damned if I didn't wake up just a little more focused the next day.

If there's any complaint I could lodge in regards to Aroah's debut, it's that it's simply too short. At the end of its seventeen minutes, I'm ready for more. That said, Cuando Termines is packed with eloquently crafted folk with roots in both American and Spanish traditions, and it speaks of an immensely promising future for Tremblay. But regardless of the future, Cuando Termines Con Todo, Habrá Terminado Contigo is a sublime experience now, and that's something we can all use from time to time.

-Joe Tangari