Colossal Gospel: Circles

Much like the Daredevil Christopher Wright’s recently released The Nature of Things, Circles boasts gorgeous and ornate melodies with smart lyrics in the classical-tinged folk/Americana genre. There’s a drastic difference in tone between those two records, though. Circles is noticeably darker throughout and a bit more straight-ahead. At times, it’s also more ambitious — for example, Circles‘ sprawling centerpiece, the nine-minute “I Have Heart, I Have a Heart”. Unfortunately, such ambition occasionally backfires on them, with the length of several tracks, and “I Have Heart” in particular, really taking a toll. With some tightening of the screws and mending of loose ends, Colossal Gospels may end up a force to be reckoned with.