Cathedral Bells - "Velvet Spirit"
I’ve been diving back into classic shoegaze during the pandemic. There’s something about the ethereal nature of the genre that can be calming in these times of intense stress. I’ve been particularly drawn to Lush’s Spooky, which in my opinion, is one of the finest representations of the best the genre has to offer. Particularly, the band doesn’t eschew strong melodies in favor of noise, instead, using their reverb-soaked guitars to complement, not overwhelm, the strength of their well-crafted songs. In its heyday, the genre’s most well-known players originated from across the pond. My Bloody Valentine seems to be the consensus gold standard, but we’ve had our share of heavy hitters in the states, particularly over the last decade. In my mind, bands like DIIV and Ringo Deathstarr stand out from the pack for their balanced approach, which soaks the listener in sound without overwhelming with noise and distortion.
Velvet Spirit, the compelling debut album from Florida’s Cathedral Bells certainly scratches that itch, highlighting the aforementioned stronger elements of shoegaze. The 12-song collection takes its cues from some of the genre’s contemporaries, including Wild Nothing and Beach Fossils, as it creates a sonic ocean of haze complete with echoey synths, lush guitar tones, and ethereal vocals. Though front-person and principal songwriter Matt Messore recorded the entire project at home, the songs sound far from stripped down or sparse. Instead, he’s adept at utilizing the traditional bedroom studio to create an immersive and glistening atmosphere that’s expansive and deeply layered.
The record’s opening track, “Ephemeral,” sets the tone immediately with an ambient gush of sound that’s anchored by twinkly guitars, but the album’s strong moments are anything but fleeting. The wispily interwoven arrangements of synths, percussion, and guitars really kick in on “In Absentia” and the gorgeous “Eighth Wonder of The World,” which Messore describes as a love letter to his significant other. This gorgeously textured instrumentation deftly slips in between his drenched, reverberated voice, which never gets lost in the mix. The ringing tones on “Reflection” continue on into “Disconnected” before the album’s lone instrumental, the subdued and droning “Lucid.” Sitting around the album's mid-point, “Lucid,” lulls softly as the record quickly picks up in its latter half. Specifically, the uptempo “A Passing Phase” races with a pronounced rhythm and a throbbing bass line before things settle down again for the luminous shimmer of the album’s finale, “Ethereal Shadow.”
Velvet Spirit is out now on Good Eye Records. You can purchase the album on vinyl via Bandcamp or the Good Eye Records site.
