The Turning Wheel＜Violet Vinyl/限定盤＞

Chrystia Cabrals third album as Spellling takes her bewitching, genre-blurring sound in a more organic direction while retaining the magical, fantasy-inspired themes that made her previous releases stand out. Just as Mazy Fly was a major departure from the loop-based avant-folk and hazy soul of Pantheon of Me, much of The Turning Wheel moves away from Mazy Flys darkwave and gothic influences, expanding on its more progressive pop elements instead. Realized with the help of a cast of 31 musicians, the albums arrangements are intricate and pristinely focused -- the messier experimental impulses of Cabrals prior records are absent here. On the albums more theatrical moments, she sings like a hybrid of Kate Bush and Michael Jackson, and it doesnt seem far-fetched to imagine her reaching a similar level of ambition in the future. Her melodies are often stronger and more playful than before, particularly on the joyous opener Little Deer. Emperor with an Egg contains some of her strangest, most outlandish lyrics as well as one of her most exquisite arrangements. As escapist as her songs can be, theyre also highly introspective and even vulnerable -- she states I want to live alone inside my fantasies during Always, and she asks to be saved as shes floating in space during the grand The Future. The stunning centerpiece Boys at School is the albums most ambitious song as well as its most soul-baring, containing the refrain I hate the boys at school/They never play the rules as well as the drawn-out admission Im meaner than you think, and Im not afraid of how lonely its going to be. Queen of Wands and Magic Act both recall the woozy, spooky synth pop of Mazy Fly, but taken in different directions; the former opens with an almost Baroque-sounding string section, and the latter has a slow-burning lead guitar solo. As with Cabrals previous album, The Turning Wheel has several standouts along with a handful of other tracks that dont leave as much of an impression. However, this is undeniably her best-produced work yet, and clearly demonstrates her impressive growth as an artist. ~ Paul Simpson