As critics, we’re supposed to keep some distance from the “products” we listen to, especially when talking to their makers. But when the record at hand is as unreasonably gorgeous, haunting, and sultry as Eleni Mandell’s new album, Miracle of Five, well, it’s hard to keep from gushing.

“Gee, thanks a lot,” says the clear-voiced singer-songwriter, calling from her Los Angeles home. She says it with uncomplicated sincerity. Mandell is the sharp-witted sort who is equally affected by praise and criticism—which is to say, not much at all. But she knows she’s on to something special with this Miracle—her sixth independent full-length in less than a decade—and she’s willing to admit it.

“We did a lot of things differently on this album. For one thing, we worked on all the vocal tracks first, which is what you’re not supposed to do. Usually, they build up the drums and all that, or record everything live, which I’ve always done in the past. But it was just me and my guitar, and that left a lot of space to work with.”

Miracle of Five was produced by country-blueser Andy Kaulkin, who played piano, organ, and assorted keyboards on the album and does the same for Merle Haggard, with whom Mandell has been touring lately. The record offers a dozen distinctively reflective tunes, bolstered throughout by Ryan Feves’s acoustic bass; Wilco-man Nels Cline’s guitar, dobro, and banjo; and sparely used add-ons like harp, vibes, clarinet, and viola. The songs are mellow—Norah Jones for people who really listen, one might say—but they have a visceral presence, sonically and in the lyrics, which are laden with nostalgia for youth and innocence lost. Standout songs like “Make-Out King” and “Girls” are redolent of awkward first dates and parking at Lookout Point. In short, they often seem a generation or so removed from her own youth in the 1980s.

“The sax and clarinet make that sound somewhat inescapable, I guess. But I’ve always been an old-fashioned kind of songwriter, which may be one reason I didn’t win a Grammy when I was 25 years old. I just bought a Little Walter record and I’m totally into that at the moment. I’m just constantly inspired by all types and phases of music from the last century.”

Eleni Mandell opens for Erin McKeown at St. James Hall on Friday (February 16).