Album Preview: Craft Spells – Nausea

Brooklyn – Last Monday marked the announcement of Craft Spells’ sophomore LP, Nausea, due out June 10th via Captured Tracks. Along with news of the release came the first single from this Californian beach-wave wonder. Justin Vallesteros’ songwriting hovers somewhere between dream pop and indietronic, wistful enough to roam to yet bolstered by a concrete structure. The latest track, “Breaking the Angle Against the Tide,” builds on the matchless sound Craft Spells has manufactured since their debut, but betrays evident growth in terms of technical ability and sonic depth.

What began in 2009 as an experimentation of layered synth and guitar work has clearly evolved into something much more elaborate. The band is Justin Vallesteros, joined by Jack Smith, Peter Michel and Javier Suarez. Their first LP, Idle Labor, emerged in 2011. Subsequently came the Gallery EP, in 2012.

It has been a spell since last we heard from this act, and it would appear that a fair amount of writers’ block decelerated the making of Nausea. In a play to find a new home in The Bay Area, Vallesteros moved to San Francisco. There, he found himself in a creative slump, ultimately returning to his parents’ home in Lathrop, CA. Removed from the pulse of urbanity, he poured himself into honing his pianist skills. Expanding his instrumental range in this way was genius, and the payoff is instantly apparent on the albums’ leading single.

“Breaking the Angle Against the Tide” bursts into life with a looping electric guitar hook, and dissolves seamlessly into Vallesteros’ swirling vocals. Synthesizer work crisscrosses this track at every turn, which we would expect, yet added string layers, piano riffs and generous symbols infuse the sound with far more complexity and heart than this group has delivered to date. The amalgamation of instrumentation raises Craft Spells’ eminence to a whole new apex. A clear departure from past work, “Breaking the Angle Against the Tide” steers this act towards a heightened state of grace and the takeaway is polished and elegant.

Justin Vallesteros’ work is in line with groups such as Twin Sister, Washed Out and Wild Nothing. While this band is akin to other groups in the beach wave arena, Vallesteros’ angle has always been a tad darker than his contemporaries. Although the brooding nature of his work helped set his act apart, it may also have been the group’s biggest hurdle up until now.

Back when Idle Labor surfaced, one review by The Guardian called the LP “30-odd minutes of dance music drained of all disco spirit and should therefore be embraced by miserablist sociopaths everywhere… If you’re into languid urgency, then form an orderly queue.” Although the LP was artful, successful and much loved among a particular listenership, it was had to retain much of the work at large; it was almost too groundless, and a bit too metaphysical.

The first glimpse of Craft Spells’ forthcoming shatters everything we have understood about this group to date.  Most significantly, the single underscores intrinsic growth of the most inspiring sort. To ultimately produce this record, Vallesteros had to face and clear a period of artistic inertia. When confronted with a creative wasteland, he chose to equip himself with new and necessary tools to navigate a path to higher ground. It takes determination to push through metaphorical droughts such as these. Craft Spells reminds us that overcoming major barricades is a feasible feat and, if we focus, ameliorating ourselves can be a product of that labor. 

 

 

Liz Rowley

Liz Rowley

Born in Mexico and raised in Toronto, Jerusalem and Chicago by a pair of journalists, Liz comes to BestNewBands.com with an inherited love of writing. After discovering a niche for herself in music journalism and radio while at Bates College in Maine, she always keeps a running playlist of new music to soundtrack her place in the world. Liz is passionate about helping dedicated, talented musicians gain the exposure they deserve. A recent transplant to Brooklyn from Hawaii, she is plagued by an incurable case of wanderlust and cursed with an affinity for old maps and old things like typewriters and vintage books. She adores photography and running and is very good with plants. Having come of age in Chicago, Wilco speaks to her soul. If she could be anything, she would be a cat in a Murakami novel.
Liz Rowley