The Turning Wheel

Spellling

I had to sit on this record for awhile. I realized pretty early on that this is not necessarily my cup of tea, but I recognized the amazing production, breadth of different sounds, and high attention to detail that went into the making of this album. I didn't want to hastily announce my indifference without making sure I gave this one a fair chance to make an impression on me. After coming back to it a few times, those feelings of indifference mostly stayed unchanged, however, some songs did end up growing on me a little more. To describe the style of Spelling's music (at least on this record), it has roots in R&B and soul with a flair for baroque and indie pop. Her voice and production work together to create some of the most whimsical, enchanting music I've ever heard in this lane. At times, this album reaches Disney soundtrack levels of grandiosity which is mind blowing for an independent record on Sacred Bones. I'm sure you're starting to get the picture, but if I wasn't clear enough, the production really acts like a sturdy pillar for the record. When the songwriting starts to get a little dull or fall completely flat, at least it still sounds really good.

My favourite track is easily the album's opener Little Deer. The beginning has these rising and falling violins, dramatic bass piano notes, gliding harps and chimes, a hint of synthesizer; honestly there are so many different sounds just in the first minute and a half alone that I am already captivated. All these sounds seem like a mix engineer's nightmare and yet everything can be heard. Everything plays together so harmoniously. I also love the groove of the track and Tia Cabral's overly theatrical voice. There are moments on this track (and on the rest of the record) where she hits these breathy bass notes, and despite having a lot of air, the pitch miraculously still comes through. The ending features some great brass instruments, namely a trumpet that mimics the chorus vocal melody. The song is kind of perfect.

I also really enjoyed The Future which is so very reminiscent of Disney. I especially love the instrumentation which features some muted guitar strums, providing some rhythm in the absence of percussion, and a whimsical synth that has these long slides in between notes. The moment that particularly hooks me though are the vocal lines coming out of the chorus. It flips briefly to a minor tone, but when Cabral's high notes soar as it transitions back into the more major sounding intro section, I get a little shiver. One more song that I really did enjoy was Emperor With an Egg. Cabral's vocal performance is quite exaggerated here, showing off some very quirky vocal inflections over some warm string layers. This track also feels quite visual, if that makes any sense at all. Cabral tells this very fantastical story and uses a great deal of descriptive language, which honestly, puzzles me more than it helps me make any sense. There is a moment where Cabral sings about a bird who can swim like an arrow, then sets up this majestic musical passage in an effort to give visualization to what that looks like. I'm sure this all sounds very absurd and you're definitely right, but that doesn't mean it's not fun.

The only track on the record I really didn't care for was Magic Act. I found this track to be quite repetitive and not all that exciting. Furthermore, the extended guitar solo at the end had some really off-putting bends, and overall felt quite sour; like it was slightly out of tune. The rest of the songs on the record didn't really make much of an impression on me sadly, but I honestly think that is more of a personal preference thing. Again, some of these songs had some really cool intricate details that I thought were really creative even if it didn't necessarily make the song for me. Despite me not having the most positive opinion on this record, I still implore you to try it out for yourself as I truly believe the production alone is an amazing feat, considering how much sound and instrumental diversity is on here. My hope is that by at least opening up to Spellling's music, I have now primed myself for the next record that comes along roughly in this same vein. Perhaps, it will suddenly click for me one day and I can look back on this record a little more fondly.

As it turns out, the bonus tracks are where I found the most fruit. Let's Get Evicted, Summon It and Deady wound up being my favourite songs thanks to stronger production, mixing, and performances. I love Let's Get Evicted's sluggish pace and spacious atmosphere. I also love the use of the cello which adds a very interesting metallic quality to the song. Summon It has a very interesting dynamic between it's two main sections. The calmer parts feature a nice tom drum groove, some creatively stuttering vocals, and an almost surf-like guitar melody and tone. The other section busts in with this super fuzzy guitar lead that takes up almost all the space in the mix, along with crashing cymbals. Lastly, we have Deady which is the closest this album gets to perfection on all fronts, rivalling some of the best moments on Major Arcana. I love the tone of the drums; roomy, boomy, and the performance is perhaps Dupuis' most confident. I also love the thick, fuzz-soaked guitars and the catchy vocal melody in the chorus.

I think there's a lot of cool ideas on this record and it was really cool to learn just how instrumental Sadie Dupuis is to the sound and tone of Spellling. Unfortunately though, the technical execution acted as a significant barrier preventing me from really wanting to get into these songs. I'm aware of the songwriting power that Dupuis has and with slightly better production and mixing, I bet a lot of these songs could really hit. Either way, it's really cool that Spellling fans can now get their hands on the earliest recordings which were previously only available on a small run of casettes or strictly digital. It is especially nice that the bells and whistles added on which were previously unreleased are pretty great bonuses as well.