The Turning Wheel (album)

Last updated
The Turning Wheel
The Turning Wheel.png
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 25, 2021 (2021-06-25)
Genre
Length57:32
Label Sacred Bones
Producer Spellling
Spellling chronology
Mazy Fly
(2019)
The Turning Wheel
(2021)
Spellling & the Mystery School
(2023)
Singles from The Turning Wheel
  1. "Little Deer"
    Released: 2021 (2021)
  2. "Boys at School"
    Released: 2021 (2021)
  3. "Turning Wheel"
    Released: 2021 (2021)

The Turning Wheel is the third studio album by American experimental pop artist Spellling, released on June 25, 2021, by Sacred Bones Records. [1] The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. [2]

Contents

Composition

The Turning Wheel has been noted for Spellling's dropping her earlier dark wave and gothic sounds and expanding her progressive pop terrain. [3]

For instance, album opener "Little Deer" pulls from jazz pop and "plush" 1960s lounge pop, [4] while "Emperor with an Egg" takes on chamber pop. [4]

The album itself is divided into two parts, subtitled Above and Below respectively. Above begins with "Little Deer" and ends with "Emperor with an Egg", while Below begins with "Boys at School" and ends with "Sweet Talk", as they are separated in the album's liner notes. [5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic? 7.5/10 [6]
Metacritic 79/100 [2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Beats Per Minute 76% [7]
The Line of Best Fit 9/10 [8]
Loud and Quiet 6/10 [9]
Louder Than War Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [10]
musicOMH Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
NME Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Pitchfork 7.5/10 [12]
Uncut 7/10 [13]
Under the Radar Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [14]

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". [2] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album a 7.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus. [6]

Track listing

All songs written by Spellling.

Above
  1. "Little Deer" – 5:39
  2. "Always" – 5:14
  3. "Turning Wheel" – 3:33
  4. "The Future" – 3:27
  5. "Awaken" – 4:31
  6. "Emperor with an Egg" – 3:09
Below
  1. "Boys at School" – 7:28
  2. "Legacy" – 3:51
  3. "Queen of Wands" – 5:21
  4. "Magic Act" – 5:40
  5. "Revolution" – 5:59
  6. "Sweet Talk" – 3:33

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. [15]

Musicians

Technical

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References

  1. "SPELLLING: The Turning Wheel". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2021-07-07.
  2. 1 2 3 The Turning Wheel by Spellling, archived from the original on July 9, 2021, retrieved July 9, 2021
  3. 1 2 Simpson, Paul. "Spellling – The Turning Wheel". AllMusic. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Spellling – 'The Turning Wheel' review: her most accessible record yet". NME. June 23, 2021. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  5. Cabral, C. (2021). [Liner Notes]. In The Turning Wheel [CD]. Oakland: New Improved Recording.
  6. 1 2 "The Turning Wheel by Spellling". AnyDecentMusic? . Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  7. Cohn, Ben (28 June 2021). "Album Review: The Turning Wheel". Beats Per Minute. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  8. "SPELLLING goes from cult leader to crowd pleaser on her epic third album Turning Wheel". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  9. "Spellling – The Turning Wheel". Loud and Quiet. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  10. "Spellling: The Turning Wheel – album review". Louder Than War. July 2021. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  11. Johnson, Steven (June 25, 2021). "Spellling – The Turning Wheel". musicOMH. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  12. "Spellling – The Turning Wheel". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  13. "Spellling – The Turning Wheel". Uncut. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  14. Arnone, Joey (June 24, 2021). "Spellling – The Turning Wheel". Under the Radar. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  15. "Credits / The Turning Wheel / Spellling". Tidal. June 25, 2021. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.