The Turning Wheel
by Spellling

I like this album quite a bit. Cabral's vocals range from good to awesome, and the instrumentation is often pretty great with some nice orchestral and jazzy sections, but the album also gets dark and broody at points too. Probably an unpopular opinion, but I really can't stand Magic Act, mainly due to the guitar solo, which, to me, falls short of virtuosic and has such a harsh tone.

“The Turning Wheel” appears to have all the necessary parts of a successful art pop album. Spelling sings in a flighty and unique tone. The song topics are diverse and clearly of extreme personal importance. A song about a penguin, “Emperor With An Egg”, is put right before a 7 minute track grappling with emotions from being bullied, “Boys At School”. The instrumentation is smooth blend of strings, horns, and synths. Beside all of these ingredients, the album feels a bit flat. Each track will introduce a topic and linger in the same feeling. There is no explosion of sounds or surge of vocals to bring it to the next level. Tracks come and go with the same lukewarm energy level. “The Turning Wheel” has strong concepts, they just need to be harnessed with greater force.

If this album was just the first 7 tracks, it would be album of the decade material. Sadly, the last 5 tracks are incredibly dull.

From Brad1770 10/10/2021 09:12 | #274844

Chrystia Caberal AKA Spellling (three L’s) has released an ambitious album that covers vast music territory. The obvious first touch point is the Beatlesque album highlight “Turning Wheel” followed by Janelle Monae’s futuristic masterpiece “The ArchAndroid” infused throughout. Solid enough with some genuine highlights but at 57 minutes probably could have been trimmed by a track or two

From mdbaxter 09/20/2021 14:27 | #273987

Creative and original album that sounds something like theatre-pop-rock. Very intricately crafted with a wide variety of different sounds. I can't put my finger on it but it comes off as a little too niche for me. I love the penguin song but ultimately, the album as a whole doesn't blow me away.

Great album with incredible vocals. All the songs are good but somehow nothing really caught my attention as a standout track.

From Timestarter 08/13/2021 10:23 | #272475

Highlights: All of Them.

Couldn't get on board with her vocal. I found it too distracting. Not for me.

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From seb7 07/21/2021 06:20 | #271790

I can appreciate it and I enjoyed it, but this type of pop does not appeal to me at all.