ALBUM REVIEW: Spellling – Mazy Fly
By Billy Bugara
The always bustling and richly expressive Bay Area gifts the music world numerous projects from both independent and commercial artists year after year, and one of its most telling and unique acts – Spellling – has released an album that fully fits this notion perfectly.
The Sacred Bones Records signee’s sophomore project Mazy Fly is a mystical and haunting trip through the talented and boisterous artist’s psyche and sonic vision respectively. Accompanied by correspondingly ominous instrumentation throughout the entire runtime, the undeniably impressive vocals serve to match this atmosphere extremely well. Both aforementioned factors make for a listen that will sooth the listener as much as it makes them feel the dark tones throughout.
Songs like the opening track “Red” and its following track “Haunting Water” adequately exemplify these sentiments; both tracks serve as moments of sheer atmospheric weight that shifts onto the listener with such great force. As the tracklist moves onward, each song offers a new sense of instrumentation — developing from acoustic guitar passages to highly-focused electronic movements. Despite these constant detours, all supplement the lushious themes of the album equally.
Mazy Fly is a listen that both fans and casual listeners of her past work will not forget any time soon, and it has already gained the acclaim and stature of one of this year’s best releases overall. Spellling is set to become a huge presence in the ever-growing singer/songwriter scene, so it would be best to get to know her while she is still on the come up.