In the ears of Chrystia Cabral, System of the Down’s Mesmerize is a perfect 10. That won’t be lost on you when listening to what is arguably the art-pop shapeshifter’s most sonically surprising studio effort to date, Portrait of My Heart. Following a string of efforts that explored the human spirit from the deep depths of the dark cosmos to the center stage of colorfully theatrical prog-pop, the Oakland artist’s turn toward her own vision of alternative rock is a sharp 180° away from those more ornate designs we’ve heard spun throughout her web thus far.

What hasn’t changed are the fantastical ideas typically found within SPELLLING’s songwriting which have made for some of most compellingly singular sounds coming out of any space over the course of the last decade. It’s an awesome thought to envision songs like “Alibi”, “Waterfall”, and “Drain” could have been creatively born from some semblance of wearing out CD copies that glistened with the cinematic emotiveness of My Chemical Romance’s The Black Parade, System of the Down and Deftone’s shiniest of metals, and the baroque rock grandeur of Silverchair’s Diorama in the way she brandishes whole-hearted immediacy into her dynamic ambition.

Turnstile’s Pat McCrory and Zulu’s Braxton Marcellous playing guitar on two of those tracks while Toro y Moi’s Chaz Bear joining in song with her in the celestial breeze of its centerpiece monster ballad “Mount Analogue” reflects a supporting cast who shares a forward-thinking edge to moving these scenes forward and beyond. She even casts her own soul’s shadow onto the My Bloody Valentine standard, “Sometimes”. “I don’t belong here!,” Cabral exclaims defiantly on the opener and title track, a listen which hears her wrestling with her own outsider nature. That can only be translated as her rock star superpower, as it’s probably what makes Portrait of My Heart an even more inventive take on the genre than anyone else could attempt.

Highlights: “Portrait of My Heart”, “Alibi”, “Drain”

SPELLLING’s Portrait of My Heart will be released March 28th on Sacred Bones Records.

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