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(a)spera - Mirah
  • Band Name: Mirah
  • Record Label: K
  • Release Date: Mar 10, 2009
(a)spera Image
Metascore
82 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 10 Critics What's this?

User Score
9.1 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 7 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: The fourth album for the Portland, Oregon-based artist features Tara Jane O’Neill, Lori Goldston, and The Decemberists' Chris Funk as guest musicians.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Paste Magazine
    83
    It's a Giving Tree scenario, spun out with strings and a subdued power-ballad build, and it sets the stage for the worldly decay catalogued throughout (a)spera with the help of several gifted collaborators.
  2. Drowned In Sound
    80
    In what's been a tremendous year for female singers thus far (see releases from Marissa Nadler, Bat For Lashes, Emmy The Great and fellow Portland-er Laura Gibson), this is yet another to add to the pile.
  3. Under The Radar
    80
    (a)spera is a pan-global treasure trove of creaking emotions and untried moments of emotional clarity. [Winter 2009, p.73]
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See all 10 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. JeremyF
    10
    Her fourth album starts out with one of the best songs she's ever written, "Generosity," with its subtly complex melody curling up inside your ears. "The World is Falling" has a distant and eerie humming that radiates softly below is cool exterior. It's a wonderful effect. Simpler songs like "Gone are the Days" and "While We Have the Sun" are gentle numbers that, while don't match up in scope to others (ie: the immense "Forest"), they are emotionally just as great. "Shells" has excellent instrumentation that is perhaps even more captivating than the vocals of the track, though the melody she sings is enchanting and gracefully stunning. All this is grand, but the real highlight of the album is third track, "Education." Mirah sings about the "education" she obtained from being with someone that she finally realized she wasn't happy being with. The lyrics are brief but ultimately relatable and touching, and her prsitine voice is staggering. (a)spera is a wonder of an album, and probably Mirah's best since Advisory Committee.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

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