Maybe it was the citrus-flavored liqueur or the enchanted trees of the Catskills. Maybe it was the bald eagle, or the snow. Maybe it was falling in and out of love and coming out of it alive, or maybe it was just that old mansion. Regardless, Spells has a pulse.
Nearly 2 years after the release of Conductor and after two U.S. tours, the band signed with Vagrant Records and began writing for their fourth record. The Comas’ fans were ready for more.
That winter, The Comas sought out producer Bill Racine after being impressed with his work with The Flaming Lips, Rogue Wave and The Mates of State, among others. Racine lead them to Allaire Studios located in a rather immense, somewhat spooky mansion nestled atop the Catskill Mountains. The studio included a 360-degree panoramic view of the snow just beginning to blanket the terrain of the hilly and heavily forested Upstate New York.
As recording began, stories of magic, enchantment, and spirits started to surface about the house where The Comas were creating their fourth work. In contrast to ordinary haunted tales, the songs on The Comas’ latest album were mere skeletons upon entering the mansion, awaiting life, as opposed to their ultimate deaths. During their stay these songs grew stronger with the very atmosphere that surrounded them, only to exit as the living, breathing album that is, Spells.
While the snow fell outdoors, the band stayed inside conjuring songs of healing and overcoming sadness, occasionally escaping outside to build snowmen or to search for cellphone service to no avail. “At one point during recording, Nicole saw a bald eagle fly by the window,” notes Herod. It must have been a good omen because it marked the birth of a truly beautiful record.
The intense rhythm driven melodies and soaring distorted guitars that make up Spells are intertwined with Herod’s lyrics characterized by imagery of the forest. He and Gehweiler alternate singing of “glowing owl eyes,” “spiders,” “new wolves,” and “redwoods swaying in starry space,” painting a picture of the magical experience The Comas were having lost in the woods upstate. Herod also noted the discovery of a case of Cointreau in the basement of the old mansion, which may have also had something to do with the “magic” throughout the album.
TRACK LIST:
1. Red Microphones
2. Hannah T.
3. I Am A Spider
4. Come My Sunshine
5. Stoneded
6. Light The Pad
7. Sarah T.
8. Thistledown
9. New Wolf
10. After The Afterglow
