Those who've, like me, been fans of Chrystia Cabral will likely be shocked by the sounds on Portrait of My Heart. The new record from Chrystia's alias, Spellling is wildly pop. Unabashedly so, in fact. My reaction was one of shock, sure, but a sort of pleasant kind as this is just one helluva catchy record.
"Keep It Alive" and "Alibi" roar and thump with a very mid-Eighties sense of song-craft. One can imagine either of these being a big radio hit had it been out in the era. Cabral, producing the whole record with a handful of co-producers, has opted for a very direct sound here. Gone is the obfuscation and complication of previous records. Gone also is a bit of the mystery too, but that's a point of discussion.
While so much of Portrait of My Heart reveals debts owed to Eighties touchstones -- Heart, Cyndi Lauper, Eurythmics, etc. -- the record still manages to stake out territory that's distinctive. There's so much heart and emotion poured into a number like "Destiny Arrives" that a listener realizes this is not some ironic trying on of old styles. Similarly, the neo-soul of "Ammunition" is trussed up in the trappings of the past, but it's modern in the sense of its construction as a tune. Layered, brash, and borderline symphonic in emotional sweep, this number and a bunch more here stand as some of the best material Spellling has offered to date. If people reject this record because it's got such a big sound, and they miss the mystery of the earlier efforts, that's their loss. Portrait of My Heart is a great Pop album.
Portrait of My Heart by Spellling is released this week via Sacred Bones.
[Photo: Sarah Eiseman]