Humans have always spent a lot of energy trying to outdo each other, and social media has supercharged all the motivations causing that. So it’s a nice change to run across someone who’s comfortable with just who they are. Santa Cruz, CA, native Mira Goto acknowledges “there are always going to be better guitar players than you…better singers…better songwriters.” Bearing that in mind, she put all her energy into simply telling her stories in her voice on her latest record, Before.
If there’s the theme to the EP, it’s that these aren’t so much breakup songs as they are about-to-breakup songs. It starts with the first cut, Enough To Try, a duet with producer Derek Garten, where they wonder if they care enough to even fight, much less try to make it work. Before is perhaps the ultimate it’s-not-you-it’s-me song where Goto admits she’s changed and the relationship just isn’t what she wants anymore. Loving You Is Killing Me puts the band more front and center, with Goto realizing “you’re the fire that still burns me [but] I’m just a flame that used to be.”
While Goto may downplay her vocal chops, you should take that modesty with a grain of salt. Whether she’s belting out a pop lyric or sonically tripping down a country road, her voice separates her from the majority of the folk and Americana crowd. That comes across repeatedly in Before.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.