Are you primarily going to Bumbershoot to see Aurora? Were you obsessed with Kate Bush before “Running Up That Hill” was on Stranger Things? Do you wish Pink Slip from Freaky Friday (2001) were a real band? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, go see SPELLLING at the Mural stage on Sunday.
In 2019, I was desperately looking for something similar to Solange’s masterpiece, A Seat at the Table, which I had been listening to nonstop for three years. While I found that Solange’s sound is not replicable, the mission led me to SPELLLING’s sophomore album, Mazy Fly. There are a few songs on the album that could be compared to Solange’s fluid, hushed vocals and reggae-inspired beats (“Hard to Please (Reprise)” and “Under the Sun”), but the bulk of the album brings to mind experimental artists of the ’80s and ’90s. The album’s opening track, “Red,” sounds like a Portishead instrumental. The song “Haunted Water” is a freaky ballad in the style of Björk. “Secret Thread” could fit in on Broadcast’s debut album, Noise Made By People. And, not to mention, like Bumbershoot headliner Aurora, Spellling, too, has the vocal range of Kate Bush.
Although SPELLLING’s influences are clear, she is far from a copy. Her music is a unique potion that allows her to shapeshift into various genres without losing her own sense of self. The shape she takes on her newest album, Portrait of My Heart, is that of the ’90s indie rock, nu metal, and shoegaze bands she loved as a teenager. The album’s title track pulls the line “I don’t belong here” from Radiohead’s sad boy anthem, “Creep,” but her experience as a self-described “Black-Mexican mixed kid weirdo in a suburb” adds actual meaning to these words. White men, after all, are made to feel like they belong everywhere.
Portrait of my Heart glimmers with an emotionally stirring rhythm section (à la Jeff Buckley’s Grace) while remaining playful. The upbeat and delightfully sassy “Alibi” sounds like an unreleased track from the movie-made band Pink Slip. Each track is angsty, timeless, and whimsical, reworking tired rock tropes into something vibrant and new. This is perhaps best displayed on the album’s closing track, a cover of My Bloody Valentine’s “Sometimes.” The cover stays true to the meditative spirit of the original while bringing the lyrics to the forefront, erupting into the emotional closing lines “you can hide, oh, now, the way I do / you can see, oh now, the way I do.” It’s a perfect conclusion to an album that reveals one individual’s experience as an outsider.
I can’t wait to see how the album translates live, as I can envision a gentle mosh pit of people dancing in the style of Kate Bush. I, however, will be sitting in the grass watching from a distance while devouring a Dingleberry™, because that’s self-care!
Bumbershoot is Saturday, August 30 & Sunday, August 31 at the Seattle Center. Tickets are available at bumbershoot.com. We’re counting down to Bumbershoot 2025 by featuring a different participating musician or artist every day for the two weeks leading up to the festival—see all our picks here.
