Show Preview: Mirah at The Old Church
Mirah’s music has always been bigger than seems possible. At her core she’s a slightly hushed singer-songwriter, but she’s often found ways to enlarge her musical presence, collaborating with artists, including Thao Nguyen, Phil Elvrum and Tune-Yards, who have often helped her break free from the singer-songwriter tag’s constraints. If her more recent output is a little tamer and better produced, there are still echoes of her more experimental, lo-fi past. On songs like “Gold Rush” from her most recent album, 2014’s Changing Light, she shows she still has a knack for building epic songs on small foundations.
Some of the best moments on Changing Light come with beautiful string embellishments, arranged by Mirah’s current touring mate, the orchestral pop composer Jherek Bischoff, himself no stranger to collaboration. His last album, Composed, featured the likes of David Byrne, Nels Cline and, of course, Mirah.
Their show this Tuesday at the The Old Church, replete with a string quartet, should be an excellent pairing, full of smart, quiet observation underlined with wonderful, swelling strings.
