The Turning Wheel is the third studio album by American experimental pop artist Spellling, released on June 25, 2021, by Sacred Bones Records. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics.
Composition The Turning Wheel has been noted for fewer elements of dark wave and gothic and more of progressive pop compared to Mazy Fly, Spelling's previous release. For instance, album opener "Little Deer" pulls from jazz pop and "plush" 1960s lounge pop, while "Emperor with an Egg" takes on chamber pop.
The album itself is divided into two parts, subtitled Above and Below. Above, beginning with "Little Deer" and ending with "Emperor with an Egg",Cabral, C. (2021). [Liner Notes]. In The Turning Wheel [CD]. Oakland: New Improved Recording. has an overall brighter sound while Below, beginning with "Boys at School", has a darker tone.
Critical reception
The Turning Wheel was met with positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the release received an average score of 79, based on nine reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album a 7.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. Online music critic Anthony Fantano gave the album a 10/10.
Track listing All songs written by Spellling.
Above "Little Deer" – 5:39 "Always" – 5:14 "Turning Wheel" – 3:33 "The Future" – 3:27 "Awaken" – 4:31 "Emperor with an Egg" – 3:09
Below "Boys at School" – 7:28 "Legacy" – 3:51 "Queen of Wands" – 5:21 "Magic Act" – 5:40 "Revolution" – 5:59 "Sweet Talk" – 3:33
Personnel Credits adapted from Tidal.
Musicians
Noor Al-Samarrai – choir Rita Andrade – viola Monica Benson – flugelhorn, trumpet Calliope Brass Quintet – brass Ted Case – string arrangements Jennifer Hinkle – bass trombone Donia Jarrar – piano Milo Jimenez – acoustic guitar Nick Marchione – brass arrangement Sara Mayo – trombone Jinty McTavish – violin Dharma Mooney – choir Macgregor Munson – banjo Brijean Murphy – conga drum Erin Paul – horn Lidia Rodriguez – baritone saxophone Javier Santiago – piano Rebecca Steinberg – flugelhorn, trumpet Sabrina Tabby – violin Ezra Teshome – choir Carolyn Walter – bassoon, clarinet, bass clarinet Del Sol Quartet – strings
Technical
Spellling – producer Drew Vandenberg – additional production, mixing Adrian Morgan – mastering Jonny Esser – mastering Mike Johnson – mastering Aleks Ozolins – engineer John Finkbeiner – engineer
References
External links The Turning Wheel at Bandcamp