"Nobody does sultry like Eleni Mandell. Whether she's singing about the "Make-Out King" asleep in her bed, the fling with a "Perfect Stranger," or just holding hands with a lover on the title cut, passion fuels Miracle of Five. But the L.A. singer's sixth record is free from Harlequin banalities or Girls Gone Wild excess. These are country shuffles, late-night lullabies and jazzy torch songs for real adults, where mystery and subtlety leave the best bits to your imagination. In keeping with her hometown's noirish legacy, the affairs may seem doomed from the first kiss, but burn all the brighter for their fate. Some of L.A.'s best session players add all the right accents to Miracle of Five, which also makes judicious use of guitar wiz Nels Cline. But it's Mandell's alluring whisper that weakens knees and wills, and these songs remind us why men fall for smart, sexy women in the first place."

-John Schacht