MIRAH - Advisory Committee LP (Blood Red Vinyl)

Label: Double Double Whammy

Mirah's You Think It's Like This But It's Really Like This, was a sweet, sensitive collection of folky indie pop, but her follow-up, Advisory Committee, is such a stunning leap forward that it feels like a true introduction to her music. The album retains some of the homespun lo-fi charm but Advisory Committee is also dramatic, even theatrical, as on the stunning first track, "Cold Cold Water."

A sweeping spaghetti Western of a song, its swelling strings, galloping percussion, and haunting vocals portray being in love as a life-or-death situation. Only Björk does this type of drama as well, and a large part of the song's success is due to Phil Elvrum's production. He and Mirah’s styles complement each other perfectly.

Indeed, Mirah's songs deal with elemental themes -- love, sex, heat, cold, fire, and water -- in highly artistic and occasionally spiritual terms that are poetic but never pretentious. A tour de force, Advisory Committee packs several albums' worth of emotion, beauty, and creativity into a concise, brilliant package.