Mirah

On her fourth solo outing, Mirah reaches even further into the starry sky while planting her feet ever deeper into the roots of the Earth. (a)spera builds on the sophisticated arrangements Mirah has done with Spectratone International and the Black Cat Orchestra but leaves room for the intimate bedroom feel of her earlier solo records. How she makes a lush orchestra piece feel like it was recorded casually after breakfast from the comfort of her room is pretty incredible. The use of trashy percussion sounds and occasional raspy, distorted guitar within the rich tapestry of sound does a lot to ground the bold cinematic moments of Mirah's epic inclinations. Aside from Björk, Mirah has quite possibly the most singularly beautiful voice in modern music, which alone could carry an entire album, but paired with these majestic yet personal arrangements, it is absolutely flooring. An artist in continual evolution, Mirah has written her most confident and accomplished record with (a)spera.