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Spellling’s "Boys at School" Is a Gothic Dream Drenched in Emotion

If you've ever wished music could feel like walking through a surreal painting—rich with symbolism, beauty, and unease—then Spellling’s “Boys at School” is your invitation to step inside.


Spellling (the moniker of Bay Area artist Chrystia Cabral) is one of those rare musicians who makes experimental pop feel both avant-garde and emotionally raw. With “Boys at School,” taken from her critically acclaimed album The Turning Wheel, she delivers a cinematic fever dream of adolescent longing, social pressure, and emotional chaos—all wrapped in theatrical grandeur.


Clocking in at over six minutes, “Boys at School” doesn't rush to reveal itself. It builds like a storm—beginning with eerie piano chords and spectral hums before morphing into a full orchestral arrangement that feels straight out of a dark fantasy film. The song swells, contracts, and then bursts open again with dynamic strings, cascading synths, and haunting vocals that tremble with feeling.


Lyrically, Cabral delves into the angst of girlhood—navigating shame, identity, and the disorienting pull of male attention in formative years. “They push me down, they spit on me / but I want their love so bad,” she sings, her voice quaking somewhere between a sob and a spell. It’s uncomfortable. It’s powerful. And it’s honest in a way that few songs dare to be.


But make no mistake: “Boys at School” is not a passive experience. It commands your attention. The emotional intensity paired with orchestral drama makes for a track that doesn’t just tell a story—it makes you feel it in your bones. Cabral’s theatrical performance blurs the line between cabaret and confession, making you wonder whether you're at a concert or a séance.


Spellling is not for everyone, but for those who resonate with her vision, she offers something rare: art that doesn’t dilute itself for mass appeal. “Boys at School” is a maximalist gem in an often minimalist musical landscape, and it shows that raw emotion and bold experimentation can coexist—beautifully, painfully, and unapologetically.



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