MIRAH
(A)SPERA
(A)spera is the fourth album from Mirah and the long awaited follow-up to 2004's highly acclaimed C'mon Miracle, Having previously covered songs by Leonard Cohen and Kurt Weill and been a member of US indie act The Microphones and (a little oddly!) having had one of her tracks used heavily in the 2008 series of 'So You Think You Can Dance', Mirah (pron Mear-rah) is perched on the precipice of something bigger with this stunning release, The daughter of artistic parents, the singer/songwriter had a passion for music from early childhood, While fronting the jazz band the Hot Set in Olympia, WA, playing wedding parties and bar mitzvahs to earn extra cash, Mirah began writing her own brand of lo-fi, slice-oflife indie pop, a style later compared to that of grrrl-rocker Liz Phair, Powered only by her guitar and standout singing voice Mirah performed her own songs under her own name and people took notice, The songs on (a)spera strike a bold path across a landscape of dynamic and varied melody forms, Mirah's strongest asset, her sincerity and the care she takes in placing herself within her music, is offered without compromise, Again teaming up with Phil Elverum (The Microphones, Mt, Eerie) for 3 of the 10 tracks, she also enlisted the engineering prowess of fellow Portlanders Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, Laura Veirs) and Adam Selzer (M, Ward) to complete this beautiful voyage, Featured musicians include Chris Funk (of The Decemberists), Tara Jane O'Neill and Lori Goldston. |