(a)spera, Mirah's forth solo album, is her first since 2004's excellent C'mon Miracle. It's solo, yes, but she's not alone: Longtime collaborator Phil Elverum contributed to three tracks and she collaborated with fellow Portlanders Tucker Martine and Adam Selzer along with Chris Funk, Tara Jane O'Neil and Lori Goldston. The collection's out 3/10 via K, but we have the lovely "Gone Are The Days" today. We asked Mirah about it. She responded in detail about:[T]he loss of industrious, bright energy, about the lethargy that modernlife and technology has introduced to our lives, about the forceful human greed to which so many planetary resources have been subject ... the struggle between wild perfect nature (perfectly wild, destructive even) and human control...But as she added, "It's not all mopey negativity. All those things are part of our reality right now so it's just realistic to acknowledge them and sing about them." Read more while you take a listen to "Gone Are The Days."And, for those who like to read words on paper, today's 'Gum Drop also offered a chance to win a complete set of the 33 1/3 book series. That's over 60 titles.