Why don’t people use more sound effects? Like, on a regular basis, in the studio, your song lacks chutzpah, you’re sick of the old piano and guitar — why don’t you throw in some nature sounds? After you’ve listened to angel-voiced Swede Sally Shapiro’s new single, “Miracle,” you’ll agree that nature sounds change the whole game. They turn what may have been a fairly good Euro-synth song into an effing masterpiece. Listen to “Miracle” and tell me you don’t feel as though you’ve been transported into some sinister, inter-planetary disco. I’m telling you — it’s not because of Shapiro’s angelic voice or because of the dreamy danceable instrumentals that this song stands out as much as it does (although those elements are both solid). It’s because of the thunderclaps that Shapiro and her producers were genius enough to infuse the song with. The rumbling of clouds and swish of rain add multi-dimensional layers of story and sound to what might have just been a good new-fashioned dance song. Unlike…oh, say, a certain Material Girl in the late ’90s, Shapiro totally pulls off the rain sounds without sounding cheesy.

The full-length album (Shapiro’s follow-up to her 2006 acclaimed debut, Disco Romance) will be released by Paper Bag Records in early fall 2009, and I can’t wait. Ocean waves? Lion roars? Mice being eaten by snakes? The possibilities are endless.

Download “Miracle” and get more information about the new album on Sally Shapiro’s MySpace.