Kevin Bronson on January 29th, 2015

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On her first two albums, including last spring’s stellar “All My Love in Half Light,” Melissa Ann Sweat — dba Lady Lazarus — wrestled with her demons in wobbly, piano-based songs notable for their stark honesty and fragility. The title track from her new album, “Miracles” (due March 3), suggests that her clouds have lifted. “I believe in miracles,” she sings buoyantly over plinks from her signature baby grand and gentle orchestration arranged by Gary Mallaber (who has played and/or recorded with the Steve Miller Band, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen and a host of other luminaries). Sweat reports that she has relocated to Joshua Tree from Los Angeles, part of her ongoing effort, she says “to orient myself in a positive direction — which has come to a sort of fruition in this moment in my life and in my music.”

||| Stream: “Miracles”