The Californian pop musician known for her experimental sound unveils new music with latest single.
Spelling (Chrystia Cabral) has released her new single Portrait of My Heart, a prelude to her upcoming album of the same name. It marks a shift away from a more blurred-line approach, bending varying genres that include goth, R&B, pop, and even electronic music.
This time around, the singer has embarked on a more adventurous mode of music creation, slamming the accelerator on hard for her listeners, entertaining a more vivid and energetic approach to her sound.
New Music, New Sound
Her move away from her ethereal sound treads a new path for the singer as she evokes a new sound of reinvention. Through a lens of experimental artful hues, Cabral often designed music that would emotionally tug at listeners, often with a sound that inspires curiosity. Like a spider’s web, her aural ideas would often teeter on the edge of liminal soundtracks, but that has all changed.
Her transition to a new spectrum of genre reflects her yearning to grow as an artist and create work that aligns with timeless production. As she puts it: “I have a big affection for it because of that. I love that it feels like it withstood transformation, which is something I always want to aspire to with things that I make. I want them to have this sense of timelessness. It could exist like this, or like that, or like this, but this is the one for right now.”
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In a statement, the singer said of the album, “When the lyrics for the title track came together, it really started to morph everything in this more energetic direction, instead of this more whimsical landscape that I’ve worked with before.”
The project has been contributed to by many within her circle, including her touring band, Mystery School. Other artists contributing to the project include guest appearances from Chaz Bear and Pat McCrory.
What It Sounds Like
Featuring a rock-led composition, it’s sonically driven by a pop skin of uniform delivery. Spelling’s mission to reinvent her artistry is successfully converted with a mode of upbeat optimism.
The song’s themes of creativity and the obsessions with pursuing it are confirmed by the singer-songwriter herself, “The song conceptually is dealing with the sort of mental torment of being obsessed with making art and it consuming you. Choosing art over everything…over love…over the love of life and dealing with the consequences of this.”
The infatuation she refers to bleeds into the video, as it contains a sense of colour saturation and expressionism.
The Music Video
To coincide with the single’s release, Spelling dropped a music video evoking an early 1990s vibe. Directed by Ambar Navarro, it incorporates compositions that are driven by colour and theatrics of the artist, whilst retaining her sense of eccentricity.
Album Release Date and Tracklist
The album will be released at the end of the month, 28th January 2025, and will feature 11 songs that include one cover.
Tracklist:
- Portrait of My Heart
- Keep It Alive
- Alibi
- Waterfall
- Destiny Arrives
- Ammunition
- Mount Analogue
- Drain
- Satisfaction
- Love Ray Eyes
- Sometimes (My Bloody Valentine cover)
Stanisland Magazine 
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