On Chrystia Cabrals fourth album asSPELLLING, the Bay Area artist transformsher acclaimed avant-pop project into a mirror. Cabrals lyrics for Portrait of MyHeart tackle love, intimacy, anxiety, and alienation, trading the allegorical approachof much of her previous work for something pointed into her human heart. Thealbums thematic forthrightness is echoed in its arrangements, making it thesharpest, most direct SPELLLING album to date. From the dark minimalism ofher earliest music to the lavishly orchestrated prog-pop of 2021s The TurningWheel to this newly energetic expression of her creative spirit, Cabral has provedagain and again that SPELLLING can be whatever she needs it to be.

The title track, with its propulsive drum groove and anthemic chorus of I dont
belong here, is the most potent embodiment of the albums turn toward emo-
tional directness. Once the main melody emerged, Cabral used the song as a toolto process her anxiety as a performer and opted for a tighter, more rock-orientedcomposition. This transformation mirrors the albums broader shift toward energyand immediacy, driven by the core band of Wyatt Overson (guitar), Patrick Shelley (drums), and Giulio Xavier Cetto (bass), whose collaboration uncovers newcontours of the SPELLLING sound. Cabral still writes and demos in isolation, butpresenting the songs for Portrait of My Heart to her bandmates helped her discovertheir eventual lively, organic forms. So did working with a trio of producersTheTurning Wheel mixing engineer Drew Vandenberg, SZA collaborator Rob Bisel,and Yves Tumor producer Psymun.

Key guest contributions further shape the album. Chaz Bear (Toro y Moi) deliversSPELLLINGs first duet on Mount Analogue, Turnstile guitarist Pat McCroryturns Cabrals original piano demo for Alibi into the crunchy, riff-y version thatappears on the record, while Zulus Braxton Marcellous gives Drain its sludgyheft. These parts arent just incorporated seamlessly into the album; they feel likean integral part of its universe.

Ultimately, though, Portrait of My Heart is nobodys record but Cabrals. She fear- lessly draws the curtain back on parts of herself that shes never included
in SPELLLING beforeher feelings of being an outsider, her overly guarded
nature, the way she can throw herself recklessly into intimate relationships
and then cool on them just as quickly. Its very much an open diary of all those
sensations, she says

Track List:

Portrait of My Heart (4:42)
Keep It Alive (2:42)
Alibi (3:18)
Waterfall (2:52)
Destiny Arrives (4:02)
Ammunition (3:49)
Mount Analogue (4:13)
Drain (5:08)
Satisfaction (2:10)
Love Ray Eyes (3:33)
Sometimes (4:28)