-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Ambient * Ethereal *
Artist..: Craft Spells
Album...: Nausea
GENRE....: Indie
STYLE....: Dream Pop, Indie Rock
LABEL....: Captured Tracks SCENE.....: 2015-12-13
BITRATE..: 814 kbps avg STORE.....: 2014-00-00
ENCODER..: FLAC 1.2.1 -8 -V TRACKS....: 11
SIZE.....: 240.8MB SOURCE....: CD
URL..: http://www.facebook.com/CraftSpells/
- TRACKLIST
1 Nausea 4:29
2 Komorebi 4:23
3 Changing Faces 4:22
4 Untitled 1:42
5 Dwindle 3:53
6 Twirl 4:18
7 Laughing For My Life 3:58
8 First Snow 3:01
9 If I Could 3:02
10 Breaking The Angle Against The Tide 3:49
11 Still Fields (October 10, 1987) 3:11
Total Playtime: 40:08
Listening to Craft Spells' second album, Nausea, is like settling back into a
warm bath, filled with relaxing smells and lots of therapeutic bubbles.
Justin Paul Vallesteros already showed with the previous two Spells releases,
Idle Labor in 2012 and Gallery in 2013, that he had a way with a new wave-y
pop hook and could construct impressive walls of icy sound. Here he melts the
walls to reveal a peacefully warm heart full of sunny melodies, bouncy
pianos, swelling violins, and expansive vocal harmonies. The album is bathed
in reverb, pitched somewhere on the edge of sleeping and dreaming, and never
raises a drop of sweat on Vallesteros, his collaborators, or the listener.
Anyone looking for music with an edge, or songs that will get the pulse
racing, should look elsewhere for sure. Nausea is a slow float down a gentle
stream, and Vallesteros constructs the sound like he's tucking the listener
in for a nice long nap. It flows from one beautiful, unassuming (yet full of
tender hooks) song to the next, all of them midtempo and dreamy except for
the calmly rocking "Twirl" and "Breaking the Angle Against the Tide," which
provide a little bit of spiky contrast. Even those two songs have enough
atmosphere, and sweetly sawing violins, to keep the energy level firmly stuck
on soothing. On the album-ending instrumental "Still Fields (October 10,
1987)," it even downshifts to meditative in an almost new age-y way. It's not
a total shock that Craft Spells have become quite so smoothed-out and soft;
there were hints on the Gallery EP, but the graceful way they've slipped into
their new sound is impressive and very enjoyable. It's not the kind of album
you'd play at a party or on a road trip -- unless you want to find yourself
sleeping on the side of the road -- but it is perfect for lazy summer
afternoons, cozy winter nights, or anytime you might want some music that's
blissfully peaceful and sweet, but never boring.
-=- SHGZ -=-
P.S.
** Thanks ***
*** BCC FNT IPC SSR ***
*** For Knowing Where The Music Is At ***
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* NuHS we miss you! *
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