Spellling - Pantheon of Me (2017)

Oakland artist Tia Cabral calls herself Spellling, as in the bewitching verb. She uses a loop pedal and minimal instrumentation (guitar, synth, her enchanting voice) to create a billowing, diffuse atmosphere; her fragments of pop are incantations. Cabral has said that she began learning to produce her own music just last year, and there is accordingly a thrilling sense of exploration to her debut LP, Pantheon of Me, released in September. Listening to it feels like searching through a pitch-black house for secret performances that slowly reveal their process. Its nonlinear textures recall Geidi Primes-era Grimes, with dashes of New Weird American mysticism and divine soul.

“Walk Up to Your House,” the album’s opener, builds cautiously into its drifting hook, perhaps to match the tentative decision she sings about. Cabral’s vocals are its truest rhythm—at turns ecstatic and gothic, raw and fluttering, a strong and human thread in her spectral patchwork. Apart from music, Cabral is also a visual artist, and she has commented on being especially concerned with the moods, shapes, and tactility of sound. “I like to hear flaws a lot,” she says. “I like to hear fragility, and songs that feel vulnerable.” This logic is at the core of Pantheon of Me, which is surely among the most overlooked debuts this calendar year.

Track List:
01. Walk Up to Your House 03:38
02. Choke Cherry Horse 03:51
03. Phantom Farewell 03:05
04. Interior World 03:14
05. Live With Me 03:17
06. They Start the Dance 03:01
07. Nine of Nights 02:10
08. Bolt From the Blue 02:46
09. Higher Ground 02:56
10. Blue (American Dream) 03:46
11. Place Without a Form 02:11
12. Black Wax 02:18
13. Lift Your Arms Around 02:24

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