Mirah - Generosity Album: (A)spera [2009]
calling an album "mature" can be damning it with faint praise, but mirah's luminous "(a)spera" embodies the best qualities of that word. while it might be subtler and gentler than most of her previous work, it also feels like a summation of everything that came before it. "advisory committee" was a gloriously audacious sprawl that showed exactly what mirah was capable of - which was a lot - and "c'mon miracle" was a reassuring shoulder to cry on, but (a)spera finds a delicate, sometimes tense balance between adventurousness and empathy. above all, the album emphasizes just how remarkable mirah's voice and words are: after more than a decade of recording, her voice is still light and girlish but with a knowing delivery; likewise, her lyrics are passionate yet clear-eyed. the album opens with one of its most striking moments - "generosity"'s distorted drums and guitars, tremulous strings, and declaration of independence make it feel like a cousin to "cold cold water," which began advisory committee with a similarly dramatic cloudburst. this kind of sophisticated indie pop and singer/songwriter territory is all her own, and (a)spera holds almost as much wisdom as it does hope.
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