Craft Spells - "Idle Labor"

Artist: Craft Spells
Album: Idle Labor
Label: Captured Tracks
Release Date: March 29, 2011
Review by: Sean Kayden

A resurrection of 80s new wave in 2011? I’m down for another go around. Craft Spell’s debut album, “Idle Labor”, is an influential album from those who did it best – New Order, The Cure and Tears For Fears. “Idle Labor” is an introspective, faintly desponding, reverie record that showcases singer/songwriter Justin Paul Vallesteros’ mesmerizing vocals, tenderness, and heartache. A dreamy, idealistic, straight from the bedroom produced album for the kids with the dreamer’s disease and those completely clinging onto a better, yet forgotten yesterday. I’m not advocating that Craft Spells are reinventing the wheel with their debut effort, but there is an innate catchiness and distinctiveness to their creative endeavor.

Everything you might expect from an 80s inspired record is found here. A recognizable atmosphere is set up with drum machines, synths, maudlin vocals, and dancing-alone-in-my-bedroom sort of bass reverbs. There is an eclectic yet cluster of emerging bands these days with the same summery, dream-pop, lost in thought style. Even when one thinks this genre has become oversaturated, an album such as this gracefully arrives to reassure you a new component can be added into the mix. I can’t even keep up with all the subgenres anymore, but “Idle Labor” falls under glo-fi, chillwave, 80s new-romantic and bedroom-pop genres. At the end of day though, it doesn’t matter what category they’re associated with. Simply put, this is beautiful, sensitive, somber, yet ironically inspiring work of art. I am enamored with this type of music persuasion and Craft Spells have easily established themselves as a band with a promising future.

However, Craft Spells isn’t headlining the revolution, but purely a significant player in the movement. Fans of indie darlings, Wild Nothing and Beach Fossils should find something commendable here to connect with. The party is short-lived though as the album clocks in right under 37 minutes. I like to think of “Idle Labor” as a mixtape sort of album. You’ll listen it to, embrace it for all it represents and then after awhile you’ll put it to the side where it becomes lost in your drawers. Years later when you’re enduring another transitional period in life, you’ll come across this previously beloved mix. It’ll seamlessly feel impeccably aged when you first pop into your CD player. A few moments later, you’ll become hypothesized by the subtle beauty, nostalgic undertones, and perfect nuances for a second time around.

Key Tracks: “Scandinavian Crush”, “The Fog Rose High”, “From The Morning Heat”, “Beauty Above All”
Rating: 8.8 out of 10

Published on April 16, 2011 by Mountain Views News
http://mtnviewsnews.com/v05/htm/n16/p10.htm