Hearing Gold, Feature Friday: Craft Spells

Feature Friday: Craft Spells

One of the more anticipated albums to be released this year is, and if not, should be Craft Spells’ debut LP Idle Labor. The fact that every new release leading up to their full-length debut gets better and better should be a sufficient enough testament. Craft Spells is the brilliant project of California-native Justin Paul Vallesteros, whom the project has taken off since his initial bedroom experimentations back in 2009. Vibrant, catchy melodies and the best of dream pop seem to be Vallesteros’ knack as he releases one hit track after another. Not unlike other young, DIY bedroom-pop musicians, the project started garnering the well-deserved hype and attention of the music blogging circuit at a substantial rate.

With every new release through the project’s new Brooklyn-based label Captured Tracks, Craft Spells became more and more synonymous with incredibly whimsical, dreamy pop melodies that induce tendencies to unknowingly sway about. Constructed around catchy guitar arrangements, heavenly synths, funky bass lines, and looped rhythms, Vallesteros’ blissful vocal work leads the composition with heartfelt lyrics familiar to all, but ones many could never articulate or say out loud. Releases through the label include “Party Talk/Ramona” 7” and “After The Moment/Love Well Spent (Ft. Emily Reo)” 7” which were subsequently blogged and re-blogged about heavily, entrancing a subsequently large following for the project as the “next up-and-coming band to watch out for”.

However, besides Craft Spells’ official releases through Captured Tracks, a myriad of other releases not released through the label have equally been hyped about on a massive scale; the Cures 7” (includes the tracks “Walking Water Wet”, “Triangle Rhymes” and “Time Lapse”) for example, was a great indication of the band’s inevitable and perennial future success.

Undoubtedly, the new year will be a busy one for Craft Spells. In addition to preparing for the full-length debut, set to be released on March 29 of this year, Craft Spells will be touring around Europe and the US now that Vallesteros has set up a full band for their live sets. Awaiting in anticipation for the release of Idle Labor must be an anxious feat, both for the band and their fans. Luckily, Craft Spells have given us a taste of what’s to come from the full-length by releasing the first single off the LP “The Fog Rose High” (which appears on this month’s “Blalock’s Indie Rock Playlist”) along with it’s B-side “You Should Close The Door” a while back for free. Be sure to grab a couple of our other favorite tracks from Craft Spells below if you’re into this whole “ridiculously catchy pop” thing.