Mirah: Dedication

"All this heavy stuff-death, birth, grief, joy, "the whole turn of the earth," as she sings on "The Beginning of Time"-beats inside the impossibly tender heart of Dedication, Mirah's first album in seven years, a lifetime of change. It's a wistful, deeply middle-aged album about deeply middle-aged concerns: motherhood, marital troubles, losing a parent, being grateful for what you have. But its unabashed earnestness is its greatest asset."

"A quarter century ago, Mirah cut her teeth singing lo-fi, bedroom-pop bangers full of melodic ingenuity and kinky fantasies. Now, rooted in earthy folk-rock tones and a hint of twang, she writes love songs of a more grown-up, long-haul variety: "Life is already hard enough/And I don't want to throw away all of the good stuff we have," she sings on the new wave-tinted "Catch My Breath," one of several tunes about fighting to keep a strained marriage intact."

Mirah experienced major life changes between recording and release: the 2018 death of her father two weeks before Understanding's release, the birth of her son four months later, and pandemic-canceled touring that intensified postpartum anxiety. Those experiences inform Dedication, Mirah's first album in seven years, which centers on grief, motherhood, marital strain, gratitude, and middle-aged reflection. Musically, she moved from lo-fi bedroom pop toward earthy folk-rock with touches of twang and new-wave influence. Songs like "Catch My Breath" and "The Ballad of the Bride of Frankenstein" use direct lyrics and metaphors to examine long-term love, conflict, and hope. The album's unabashed earnestness gives it emotional power.

Read at Pitchfork