ALBUM REVIEW: “Gallery” by Craft Spells

Craft Spells
Gallery
[Captured Tracks]

Craft Spells albums always seem to sound the way their covers look. The music on Idle Labor, Justin Vallesteros‘ debut outing, was luminous and sprightly, just like the flowers that adorned the LP. The zigzag paint splashes on the front of Gallery, on the other hand, conveys a subtle sense of chaos and anxiety. While still trebly, hazy, and nostalgic, the guitar-and-synth tunes on the EP are indeed grittier and cloudier than Vallesteros’ earlier compositions. In this way they are reminiscent of the best cuts on Pains of Being Pure At Heart‘s first album (especially the EP’s darkest and, at the same time, most memorable track, “Still Left With Me”). Gallery does not show much of an artistic progress for Craft
Spells, but it offers something fresh for all those of you still unable to put Idle Labor away on the shelf.