Hi, everyone. Ranch Dressing here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this brand new SPELLLING album, Portrait of My Heart.

Here we have a brand new album from a West Coast music project masterminded by a singer, songwriter, Ms. Tia Cabral. SPELLLING, She's Back, back, back, with a new album of new, new songs and a new, new sound. Bet you didn't know, know that.

SPELLLING was once a project that existed in the shadows of obscurity, and the rudimentary, homespun production of early records like Mazy Fly and Pantheon of Me most definitely reflected that. The minimal and sometimes spacy instrumentation saw Tia cobbling together a sound out of flashes of ethereal wave, art and ambient pop, also left field folk music, too.

Tia most definitely had an instantly recognizable sound and vocal style right out of the gate, but these records were really just her setting the stage for what would be her artistic graduation evaluation on the 2021 album, The Turning Wheel, which, in my opinion, is the most immaculately produced album of this decade so far. Just absolutely stunning and gorgeously arranged baroque pop and art rock that is so layered, so lush, so balanced and powerful, a sound that perfectly conveys just how thoughtful and expressive and dramatic Tia's songs are at their core, with one-of-a-kind vocal performances, too.

So embracing a larger instrumental presentation was most definitely a game changer for the SPELLLING project, so much so that the next album in 2023, SPELLLING and the Mystery School, featured reimagined versions of older songs in this full band context. It's not often that an artist rehashes older material in this way, but clearly Tia gains a lot of inspiration from the act of challenging herself and fans with the sonic presentation of SPELLLING, which I would say she is doing yet again with Portrait of My Heart.

Now, lead singles off this record, like the title track as well as "Destiny Arrives", brought punchier drums, much louder guitars, which is an interesting choice, especially since it's not the most popular or relevant musical lane right now. It's not a move I think a lot of fans expected, even though that Mystery School record, the whole point of that album was to explore the possibilities of SPELLLING in a full band context. Portrait of My Heart feels like the next chapter in that ongoing story, with more of an emphasis on force and volume too.

But with that being said, by general rock standards, this is not like some wild, out-of-control punk or metal album. I mean, there is at least one metal riff toward the end of the record, and we will get into that later. But this is still a SPELLLING album. There continues to be a considerable amount of pianos and synths and strings in the mix. Also a lot of nuance and whimsy to these songs, too. Sure, these tracks rock, but within certain boundaries. SPELLLING typical artsy theatric still very much take precedent, which is a major part of SPELLLING's charm anyway. But I guess it's just a question as to whether or not it marries with this rock direction.

For the most part, I think it does, but not without invoking some vibes that maybe some listeners will look at skeptically. I'm not going to lie, I do think there is something about a lot of these songs that may come across a little cheesy in the way a big showy moment during a goth Rock Opera might, or a live-action teen drama about a girl who sings in a rock band or a Disney channel original movie about a brother and sister who find out their mom is a witch. It's like that.

However, after having given this album multiple listens, I mean, Tia is very clearly self-aware about going in this direction. She's not just firing in this direction accidentally. She is setting up a target and launching laser focus ballistic missiles at it with driving guitar riffs and some of her most over-the-top vocal performances to date.

Take, for example, the opening title track on this record, which features these soaring vocal leads where she's singing, "I don't belong here!" Feeling othered, out of your element, out of sorts in some way, is a pretty consistent theme on a lot of spelling songs. It's reiterated in a much more direct way here with lyrics like, "Lost, shattered in the dark / Stranger in my head / Portrait of my heart."

There are a lot of themes of heartbreak throughout the rest of the record as well. "Keep It Alive" is very much about that topic where Tia seemingly wants to escape some romantic relationship and sees the connection here dying as almost like an inevitability, something she has just accepted. Then these feelings shift into righteous anger on the following "Alibi", which I think may be the most anthemic SPELLLING song ever. Not just because of the energy forged by the vocals vocals and snarling guitars and pounding drums. But man, that chorus – "Yeah, I won't take it back this time!"

Are the building synths and riffs and drum fills a bit much? A little bit, but things do scale back a touch and we get more nuance and dynamics on some of the following tracks. Songs that have passages that feel like they could have fit snugly into the tracklist of the turning wheel. "Waterfall" and "Destiny Arrives" both feature much softer instrumental sections. Tia leans more into her vibrato as well as other quirky characteristics that the fans find endearing, others may not be as crazy about. Still, I think both songs end up reaching huge, very well-deserved peaks where Tia and the band are really selling it. The pre-chorus on "Waterfall" goes all out with these wonderful Beatles-esque chord changes, what sounds like a nice little synth-horn embellishment too.

After that, we have "Ammunition", which also has its moments of high drama. Switch up lyrically as well as this track is less about a breakup and more about love and devotion, with a weird metaphorical angle with all of these allusions of battle and fighting together as one. "When you say start the mission, I'm your ammunition" - which is outlandish to say the least.

From here, though, the second half of the album stays entertaining, but also strange, which is funny to say because this record is already a significant switch up for spelling. But the tracklist continues to explore some of the weirdest pockets of rock music, and we get some highs and lows in the process. Things smooth out on "Mount Analogue". We have a wonderful art pop ballad on this one with a key vocal appearance from none other than Toro Y Moi that actually adds so much to the song.

Following this, "Drain" brings us some heavy alt rock riffs that feel almost Soundgarden-inspired. I mean, the track is working with a similar combination of mid-paced grungey riffs and tones, and then escalates up into this very psychedelic big, big finish, which makes for one of the most explosive moments on the entire record.

"Satisfaction", as I was referencing earlier, features the heaviest guitars on the album. This song really does go in a metal direction. However, I think the EQs and mixing are a bit off on this one. The guitars are so loud and blaring to the point where they overshadow everything else on the song. For such a guitar-centric album, I will say, generally, I don't think the guitar sound mind-blowing or amazing, but it's really just too far gone on this track, especially since the tone and the performance of them is bringing a intensity that everything else instrumentally just isn't. It just feels off balance and out of whack.

I think something similar is going on with the track "Love Ray Eyes", too, where the vocals are just very aggressively placed on top of everything else. It's almost giving demo quality a little bit, which is unfortunate. You don't love to hit moments that don't really feel like they're as well assembled or conceived as everything you're hearing in the first leg of the album.

The last track "Sometimes" on the record, though, is another shot in the dark that miraculously works out really well. Most of the track is taken up by these very shoegaze-y, syrupy riffs that drone on and on and on in a very meditative, hypnotic fashion, with some synthesizers and other layers, slowly keeping in and building up as the track progresses. And against this wall of sound, Tia is just allowed to just totally riff vocally. Believe it or not, the track is actually a My Bloody Valentine cover, which SPELLLING puts a very passionate spin on. And despite it not being an original work, the song's lyrics actually play into the album's themes of searching for that true love really well. It ends up being a very powerful moment and a great finisher for the record overall.

And despite a few relatively low moments, moments where it's clear that there are some awkward growing pains going on in the process of trying something new. SPELLLING has delivered another album that, in my opinion, is just a great record of great songs. Are there some pockets and moments that I think could have sounded a little better? Sure. But for the most part, the performances are there. Again, the songs are great. I think some of the best the project has delivered so far.

For the most part, I think the band has done a really great job of taking SPELLLING's trademark, mysterious and dramatic theatrical sound and made it work in a rock context. As a result, I'm feeling about a decent to a strong 8 on this album. It rules. It rocks. I love it.

Anthony Fantano, SPELLLING, Forever.