Mirah - (a)spera

It's been five years since the release of Mirah's last full length album, C'mon Miracle. While the world may be in a completely different place now (What's up, Barack?), it's nice to see that Mirah is still her same old self on her newest album, (a)spera, due for release on March 10th. Her lyrics are still incredibly candid and descriptive, her voice is playful (yet poignant), and her music still retains its lo-fi and intimate tones that Mirah helped to popularize at the start of this decade. (a)spera works well as a cohesive album, from the string-ridden opening track, "Generosity," to the ratatat snare and moody guitars on "Country Of The Future," to the charming oldie-but-a-goodie closer, "While We Have The Sun." One noticeable difference from Mirah's past body of work though is the lack of quirky indie-pop on this album. As is true with a lot of songwriters, it seems age as made Mirah more introspective, and less likely to burst out into an updated version of "Pollen" from 2000's You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This. But unlike a lot of other musicians that try and go the "mature" route and fail, Mirah's progression seems natural and deserved. Liz Harris from Grouper wishes she could sound this good a decade after her debut.

DOWNLOAD: Mirah - (a)spera [K]
Recommended Tracks: "The World Is Falling," "Country Of The Future," "The Forest," "While We Have The Sun."