Craft Spells “Breaking The Angle Against The Tide”

28 Mar 2014 — Parker Bruce

I can't help but think of Craft Spells in a personal way. I remember seeing them open for Beach Fossils in April 2011 at Music Hall of Williamsburg here in Brooklyn and buying one of their tote bags. That summer, I made a mixtape for a Swedish guy I had met, put "Scandanavian Crush" on it, and mailed it. And then a year later, when I was studying abroad in Paris, I have memories of riding a Vélib bike around listening to the underrated Gallery EP and how glorious "Still Left With Me" sounded while gliding down boulevards. Also, the music store Balades Sonores (which is a total rough diamond in Paris) that I briefly helped out at had Craft Spells vinyl, and I remember taking so much comfort in that, being so far away from home. And now Justin Vellesteros gifts us with the perfect summer treat, aka a Craft Spells album, Nausea, coming out June 10th on the label with a whole lot of heart, Captured Tracks. The first single from it, "Breaking The Angle Against The Tide", has a honeyed synth that sounds like a giant orchestra and charged cymbal crashes with a Fear of Men-like swooping, unsteady, wobbly, and wonderfully ditzy guitar part. Where Gallery was strapping and defiant, even urgent, in tone with little sonic ambiguity, "Breaking The Angle..." shows that Vellesteros has decided to mix the sounds of Idle Labor with those of Gallery so the song is simultaneously retreating and bounding forward, depending on the moment. The lyrics match this with him saying, "You've wasted too much of my time", and that he wants to stay inside out of the "haze" (a very Pains of Being Pure at Heart-like sentiment and the opposite of Cults telling us to "Go Outside").

Download "Breaking The Angle Against The Tide" for free below and pre-order what is sure to be another wonderful release from Craft Spells.