Happy June 2020! Can you believe we’re already almost halfway through this awful year? So far no zombie apocalypse … so I guess that’s promising!
If you’re in need of something to lift your soul and soothe frazzled nerves, I wanted to share something I stumbled across and have been really enjoying this past week or so, but first, some context.
In my last post, I shared my thoughts on California’s Vandal Moon, a duo from Santa Cruz that I discovered via Graveface Records. Their latest album includes a collaboration with fellow Californian band New Spell, featuring some delicious vocals from New Spell’s lead singer Leanne Kelly on the track “We Live Forever.” I was enchanted by the sound, so I did some digging.
It turns out New Spell are based in San Francisco and have been around since 2003, when the founding members were students at USC. Their name was inspired by the title of a song on fellow Bay Area band Cryptasize’s album “Mythomania.” When asked about the name in a June 2014 interview with SFGate.com, lead singer Leanne Kelly said that the band “feel that New Spell conveys the sense of magic inherent in music and technology and nature.”
Since 2012, New Spell have self-released one album and a handful of EPs via their Bandcamp page, with their latest being the final installment in a trilogy called “Of Time, Part III.” On these latest EPs, New Spell is Jacob Frautschi and Leanne Kelly, with a little help from friends Max Savage, Daniel Erik, and Sean Williams.
I headed over to Bandcamp, spent quite some time with their latest release, and was completely taken by it. I went back and checked out the previous two EPs and was equally impressed, I especially enjoyed how the three flow so well as a cohesive unit.
The music is self-described as synthwave: synth-based pop that feels modern but very accessible. They’ve also sometimes been referred to as dark wave, though there’s very little about this band that could be considered dark or goth. The sound is as synth-heavy as Ladytron, but much warmer. On the other hand, it’s nowhere near as bubblegum as a standard mainstream offering. At times they almost seem to be channeling a modern Giorgio Moroder.
Leanne Kelly’s voice is at times subdued in an almost Sarah McLachlan kind of way, but at other moments she reminds me of Dolores O’Riordan or even Madonna. The “Of Time, Part II” EP especially reminds me of the general feel and spirit of Madonna’s “Ray of Light,” particularly the track “Frozen”, though it maintains a distinctly indie vibe that makes it really special.
Those of you who know me can attest to the fact that I hate spending money on music I can’t hold in my hands. So while I was initially disappointed that New Spell have no vinyl releases, I was so drawn in by the sound that I did something I almost never do: I bought a number of their digital releases, specifically the three “Of Time” EPs. That ought to tell you how highly I think of this band.
My recommended tracks are “Rain” and “The Space Between” from “Of Time, Part I”; “Merely Mortal” and “Of Time” from “Of Time, Part II”; and “Easier” and “Future’s Wild” from “Of Time, Part III”. That’s not to say the other songs aren’t good, they just happen to be slower, and as you may know, I’m not a big fan of slow tempos! There’s not a single track across the three EPs that I skip during playback, but I can’t list everything, so I’ve gone with my personal favorites, which happen to be the more upbeat numbers. (Honorable mention to Part III’s “Forgotten,” which is a slow jam that gets very heavy and trippy. Beautiful tracks like “Home” and “Forgotten” almost channel the spirit of early Portishead.)
New Spell have been on high rotation this week. I expect you might find yourself putting them on repeat as well. (Bonus: Part II and Part III come with gorgeous bonus tracks when purchased, including an amazing instrumental version of “Home” and a haunting acoustic version of “Of Time.”)
And lastly, here is a bonus that I came across:
*In case you didn’t know, an EP (AKA: Extended Play) is a collection of songs that has more songs than just a Single (which usually only features two or three songs) but is shorter than a full album. Most often an EP consists of between 4 and 6 songs.
#MusicBoxTW
