Chrystia "Tia" Cabral (born May 18, 1991), known professionally as (stylized in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

), is an American

experimental pop Experimental pop is pop music that cannot be categorized within traditional musical boundaries or which attempts to push elements of existing popular forms into new areas. It may incorporate experimental music, experimental techniques such as m ...

musician based in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. Cabral released her debut album, ''Pantheon of Me'', in September 2017; ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' felt it was "surely among the most overlooked debuts this calendar year". Signing to

Sacred Bones Records Sacred Bones Records is an American independent record label founded in 2007 and based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has released recordings from artists including Zola Jesus, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Spellling, Blanck Mass, Crystal S ...

in 2018, she followed up in February 2019 with '' Mazy Fly''. It was met with universal acclaim by music critics, who enjoyed the dark and eerie qualities of Spellling's sound. Cabral released the third full-length Spellling album, '' The Turning Wheel'', on June 25, 2021. She followed that up with '' Spellling & the Mystery School'' in 2023 and ''Portrait of My Heart'' in 2025.

Early life

Cabral was born in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, California. She was raised in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, which would later influence her music. Cabral attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, studying philosophy for two semesters before changing her major to English literature after feeling "shamed out of the hilosophydepartment" as the only femme person and person of color. She remained at Berkeley to pursue a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

, which she completed in 2019.

Career

Cabral started her musical career in 2015, influenced by two events: watching a fellow San Francisco artist performing looped vocals; and the death of a close friend. At the time she was working as an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

teacher, and being around crayons inspired her to release a handmade CD called ''Crayola Church''. Cabral said of the project: “I took a

Crayola Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing and retail company specializing in list of art media, art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered ...

box and made a record based on every color in the box… I would wrap the CDs in children’s drawings and write the track listing, so some people have those ditions” In 2017, she self released her debut album, ''Pantheon of Me''. In 2019, she released a follow-up, ''Mazy Fly'', to positive reviews. In 2021, she released her third album, '' The Turning Wheel'', to similarly positive reviews. In 2023, she announced her fourth album, '' Spellling & the Mystery School,'' which would contain re-recordings of past material.

Artistry

Influences

When asked about her favorite albums, Cabral named

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1974 single " Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register. Born in 1947, Riperton grew ...

's '' Come to My Garden'',

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, ) is a Germany, German Electronic music, electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk was among the first successful a ...

's ''

Computer World ''Computer World'' () is the eighth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk, released on 11 May 1981. It was accompanied by four singles, including a double A-side UK no. 1 featuring " Computer Love". The album is themed around compu ...

'', and

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

's ''

The Idiot ''The Idiot'' (Reforms of Russian orthography, pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform ) is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal ''The Russian Messenger'' in 1868–1869. The titl ...

''.

Discography

Albums

* ''Pantheon of Me'' (2017) * '' Mazy Fly'' (2019) * '' The Turning Wheel'' (2021) * '' Spellling & the Mystery School'' (2023) * ''Portrait of My Heart'' (2025)

Singles

* "Hard to Please" (2018) * "Little Deer" (2021) * "Boys at School" (2021) * "Turning Wheel" (2021) * "Cherry / Under the Sun" (2023) * "Hard to Please (Reprise)" (2023) * "Portrait of My Heart" (2025) * “Alibi” (2025)

References

External links

Spellling
at

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...