Spill Tab redefines being in love on debut album “ANGIE”
There’s a decadence to Spill Tab’s sound on ANGIE. It fills the room yet stays so soft, something that you feel lucky to hold in your hands, an energy that’s so vibrant and still quiet, careful, honest. A deep sincerity stays woven through the album like a common thread. This is Spill Tab’s first full studio album, in the past she’s released EPs, such as 2021’s Bonnie that features other indie-pop icons such as Gus Dapperton and JAWNY. ANGIE is a fresh start, a new glimpse into Spill Tab’s world.
The album opens with “PINK LEMONADE,” a distorted and pitched-up paradise that serves as the perfect intro to what this body of work is: the chronicling of emotion. “It's no ease here on the ground / Bashing my head in and pouring on out like / Pink lemonade and berry stains.” It feels sticky and humid in the best way— one that portrays the rawness of being a mess and embracing it.
I had to sit with “Adore Me” for a while. It’s been so long since I felt a new song so fully to the point where my mind was afloat, eyes closed, swaying softly in my seat. The piano in the beginning takes you to a different space, somewhere in the clouds I think, the soft bass and Claire’s voice seduce you into staying in this place, to sit with the emotion. It’s soft and careful yet stays so raw. This is a once in a lifetime track and truly the standout on ANGIE.
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As if she didn’t already have enough tricks up her sleeve, Claire sings in French on track three, “Assis.” French is already a language that rolls off the tongue like something soft, sweet, and floral, so the harmonies put behind these lyrics emphasize the fluidity of the track immensely. It closes with a glitchy, end-of-the-video-game sound that seems like an entirely different element, but somehow blends perfectly with the track. “Athlete” is a higher energy banger, one that you can’t help but move your body to and want to dance alone in your room to. “I lose my senses loving her / Taking some chances doesn't hurt.” I interpret this as loving fully with no regrets and embracing the down-badness of craving someone. It’s a fun and beautiful track that keeps the same uniqueness that ANGIE has proved it carries on each song.
“morning dew interlude” carries you into “Doesn’t That Scare You?”, a track that is unapologetically sincere. Love, lust, enthrallment, whatever it be, can make a person crazy. But, this track is brutal in it’s honesty. It is brutal in its softness. The truth in Claire’s voice seeps into your skin as if she’s singing it directly to you.
“Killing myself for a chance to read your mind.”
Title track “Angie” reveals why this album feels like such an up-and-down of emotion. It starts acoustic with more of Claire’s punishing harmonies that sink deep into your ears. During the chorus, it picks up with the lyrics, “I hate you, I don't, don't, don't / Angie, she's on my mind.” I can feel the love/hate push and pull in the energy alone, even outside of the lyrics. There’s an anger in falling for someone so hard that you don’t know what to do with it, and the awareness of it sometimes hurts more than the comedown. This is an exceptional track that so easily and eloquently takes you on the rollercoaster that is being in love.
“De Guerre” has an interesting aggression in the beginning, it feels a little darker, a bit of a turn from the softness of other tracks on this album. Once again, she uses French. It proves to me that you don’t have to understand what a person is saying lyrically to be able to feel the music. It’s a full body feeling of soft rage, the kind that builds and builds until it spills over. What an extraordinary first full length project from Spill Tab this is. It is unapologetic in its emotions and holds an earnestness that feels rare in music these days. The album is available on streaming platforms now!
