Eleni Mandell's Miracle of Five is popping up on several "best discs of 2007" lists. Harp, Paste, ABC News, The Los Angeles Times, Pop Matters, SF Weekly and Hour (Montreal) have all included Miracle in their records of the year.

HARP: “Underappreciated L.A. chanteuse Mandell delivers yet another album’s worth of speakeasy-friendly-yet-refreshingly contemporary gems. Shame on you if you don’t already own this album.”

ABC News: “Eleni Mandell is a Los Angeles-based acoustic guitar-strumming chanteuse. She's the kind of singer you might find singing at any urban nightspot. You can listen to her soft, descriptive songs and just imagine her dressed in black, with the spotlight on her in a smoky bar. "Miracle Of Five" is her sixth album in eight years. It's also her most straightforward. The payout is huge. Her songs are full of characters and scenery, whether it is the snowy descriptions in "Salt Truck" or when she's singing "I can't be seen kissing the make-out king." There's a humorously reflective quality to these songs. At times she comes off like a less snarky Nellie McKay. "Girls" is a career high. On the deceptively simple track, she asks "Do you still cry about girls you wanted?" and with that she opens a floodgate of nostalgia for anyone who has ever lost love. Similarly "My Twin" is a disturbing bluesy death song, and "Moonglow, Lamp Low" is a song meant for lovers. Altogether, this is a disc that should really find more of an audience."

PopMatters (singer-songwriter albums of the year):Number 3 - Perennially under-appreciated singer-songwriter Eleni Mandell’s sixth album, Miracle of Five, is her subtlest and best work yet. From the first a capella seconds of “Moonglow, Lamp Low”, the scene is set. Mandell has largely left behind her country roots, and the lovers she portrays are no longer true. They’re just two broken-hearted strangers, sharing the last slow dance of the night. Torch-singing crosses with sad ‘50s pop and, yes, a bit of vintage country balladry. Eleni gently purrs every note, keeping Miracle of Five quiet and unassuming. But her songwriting is too good to ignore. Along with the excellent opening track, the sly “Girls” and the dreamy “Make-Out King” feel like covers of old-time classics, but they’re 100% Mandell. With this shy little album, Mandell might not be begging you to listen to her music, but I am."

LA Times (Ann Powers): "Ladies of the (Silver) Lake: Somewhere between Joni Mitchell and Mia Doi Todd, L.A. became the most fruitful place on Earth to be a female singer-songwriter. Releases from pals Eleni Mandell, Becky Stark (of Lavender Diamond) and Inara George (with the Bird and the Bee) were all stunners. And that's just the tip of the eyeliner."

SF Weekly (Beth Lysick): "Eleni is a real L.A. woman, as sexy and sharp as a grifter at the racetrack. Each one of her songs is a beautiful work of sudden fiction, a snapshot of a fully realized character letting you into some secret world. It's no wonder Tom Waits is a huge fan."