(Excerpt)

On her previous, self-titled album, Phair said ciao to the cool crowd and fully embraced pop — a polarizing move that had some critics cheering and others rigging up the whipping post. With Miracle, "I'm inclined to think it'll piss off fewer people," she says. "It's less sensationalistic, less check-it-out! splashy. It's more affectionate than that." And, yes, "mature". She's pretty well exiled from Exile in Guyville's ethos. "I did think to myself, what is it that [the last album's detractors] really missed? So I tried to provide that side of my art in the stories. But in many ways, I can't take into consideration what they said, because it would be like trying to be 25 when you're not anymore." (Oct. 4)