Chrystia Cabal shifts gears into more guitar orientated territory on her fifth album.

Over eight years the SPELLING project has evolved from a one woman show to a more collaborative band effort. Cabal is clearly still very much in charge of everything but the reimagining of older material on SPELLING & The Mystery School in 2023, with the help of the band she put together, has very much directed the influence of this new offering.

Title track ‘Portrait of My Heart’ starts with that distinctive SPELLING vocal style, it sits over a driven drum beat and confident guitars supported by keyboards and a string section that really lifts the chorus. It is fresh but classic sounding. This soundscape fills out the majority of tracks on this album but SPELLING keep reworking the combinations in interesting ways.

There is a more personal nature to the lyrics on this album compared to previous offerings. Cabal has a range of things to get off her chest, it feels like a relationship breakdown spurred on a number of the tracks, “I don’t belong here” and “I won’t take you back this time” being some of the key refrains.

There are some interesting guest spots on the album. Originally it had been planned that there would be a guest on every track, but that concept was abandoned as the album turned more direct and personal. Of those that did happen Turnstile guitarist Pat McCrory appears on ‘Alibi’ to add some typically crunchy guitar. Chaz Bear joins in for a duet on ‘Mount Analogue’.

‘Waterfall’ is a standout moment, playing about with interesting time signatures before a large chorus unfurls. ‘Destiny Arrives’ is not quite like anything else out there right now. There is a magic that seeps out of the pores and sweeps you along as “Destiny arrives, full of surprises.”

This is an intriguing and clever album that is well worth a listen. SPELLING is doing a small UK tour in June.