All of Spatula’s releases have been nothing short of brilliant, and Despina by Land seems like something of a pinnacle — the album follows 1996′s rather minimal Under the Veil of Health with a return to the gorgeous three-piece composition of 1995′s Medium Planers and Matchers. As those familiar with the band might expect, it’s an excellently composed, subtle album which moves like jazz or post-rock, speaks like indie rock, and manages to get highly unconventional without truly getting abstract. Even more so than on some previous releases, the band’s emphasis moves as much toward melodica, keys, and cello as it does toward bass and guitar: the opening “Voyage of the Slan” drones prettily along without feeling compelled to lapse into bombast, and only after a lengthy tonal development does the band break into angular guitar constructions, reminiscent of a smaller, less bombastic Don Caballero or early Pell Mell. Through all of the tracks which follow, Spatula’s composition is equally keen — the album’s songs are varied and complex, but never seem to stray from the band’s central and idiosyncratic sound, or their primary set-up as a three-piece rock band. There’s a careful and intelligent management of sound operating behind this: The album’s drifting, downbeat moments are kept gorgeous, but given a slight edge that never makes the mistake of lapsing into a melodramatic explosion — and, like a post-rock project, the band finds its power in sweeping compositions rather than conventional crunches and wails. All of this is true, to some extent, of Medium Planers and Matchers, but Despina by Land pushes the sound into polished and fully realized territory — as always, Chuck Johnson’s vocals thread their way in and out of a plush instrumental backdrop, clearing a space between indie rock, post-rock, and pure brilliance. – Nitsuh Abebe
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