(A)spera

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. These dualities express (A)spera's emotional shades of shades of gray elegantly and eloquently. "Shells" explores the almost imperceptible line between holding and suffocating a loved one to Kane Mathis' lilting kora, while