The Turning Wheel (album)

The Turning Wheel is the third studio album by American experimental pop artist Spellling, released on June 25, 2021, by Sacred Bones Records.^[1] The album received generally positive reviews from music critics.^[2]

The Turning Wheel
Studio album by Spellling
Released	June 25, 2021 (2021-06-25)
Genre	Progressive pop art pop psychedelic soul baroque pop neo-psychedelia darkwave
Length	57:32
Label	Sacred Bones
Producer	Spellling
Spellling chronology
Mazy Fly (2019) The Turning Wheel (2021) Spellling & the Mystery School (2023)
Singles from The Turning Wheel
"Little Deer" Released: 2021 (2021) "Boys at School" Released: 2021 (2021) "Turning Wheel" Released: 2021 (2021)

Composition

The Turning Wheel has been noted for Spellling's dropping her earlier dark wave and gothic sounds and expanding her progressive pop terrain.^[3]

For instance, album opener "Little Deer" pulls from jazz pop and "plush" 1960s lounge pop,^[4] while "Emperor with an Egg" takes on chamber pop.^[4]

The album itself is divided into two parts, subtitled Above and Below respectively. Above begins with "Little Deer" and ends with "Emperor with an Egg", while Below begins with "Boys at School" and ends with "Sweet Talk", as they are separated in the album's liner notes.^[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.5/10[6]
Metacritic	79/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Beats Per Minute	76%[7]
The Line of Best Fit	9/10[8]
Loud and Quiet	6/10[9]
Louder Than War	[10]
musicOMH	[11]
NME	[4]
Pitchfork	7.5/10[12]
Uncut	7/10[13]
Under the Radar	[14]

The Turning Wheel was met with positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the release received an average score of 79, based on nine reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[2] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave the album a 7.5 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.^[6]

Track listing

All songs written by Spellling.

Above

1. "Little Deer" – 5:39
2. "Always" – 5:14
3. "Turning Wheel" – 3:33
4. "The Future" – 3:27
5. "Awaken" – 4:31
6. "Emperor with an Egg" – 3:09

Below

7. "Boys at School" – 7:28
8. "Legacy" – 3:51
9. "Queen of Wands" – 5:21
10. "Magic Act" – 5:40
11. "Revolution" – 5:59
12. "Sweet Talk" – 3:33

Personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[15]

Musicians

• Noor Al-Samarrai – choir
• Rita Andrade – viola
• Monica Benson – flugelhorn, trumpet
• Calliope Brass Quintet – brass
• Ted Case – string arrangements
• Jennifer Hinkle – bass trombone
• Donia Jarrar – piano
• Milo Jimenez – acoustic guitar
• Nick Marchione – brass arrangement
• Sara Mayo – trombone
• Jinty McTavish – violin
• Dharma Mooney – choir
• Macgregor Munson – banjo
• Brijean Murphy – conga drum
• Erin Paul – horn
• Lidia Rodriguez – baritone saxophone
• Javier Santiago – piano
• Rebecca Steinberg – flugelhorn, trumpet
• Sabrina Tabby – violin
• Ezra Teshome – choir
• Carolyn Walter – bassoon, clarinet, bass clarinet
• Del Sol Quartet – strings

Technical

• Spellling – producer
• Drew Vandenberg – additional production, mixing
• Adrian Morgan – mastering
• Jonny Esser – mastering
• Mike Johnson – mastering
• Aleks Ozolins – engineer
• John Finkbeiner – engineer