User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info

Mazy Fly
by
Mazy Fly Image
Metascore
84

Universal acclaim - based on 10 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 21 Ratings

  • Summary: This is the second full-length release for California-based Tia Cabral.
Buy Now
Buy on

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. PopMatters
    Feb 27, 2019
    90
    From sharp, wispy aches to flat, guttural releases, vocal notes move innately and curiously. She sings to discover as if every bellow imagines a peace that her spoken voice cannot. ... [An] unpredictable, nuanced album.
  2. Exclaim
    Feb 22, 2019
    90
    New voices and ideas fading in and out like ghosts, it's an ambitious second act that meaningfully departs from the proven formula that earned the project early buzz, all to invigorating effect.
  3. Paste Magazine
    Feb 22, 2019
    82
    Mazy Fly is idiosyncratic, but in a thoughtful and imaginative way that is too appealing to resist.
  4. The Quietus
    Feb 22, 2019
    80
    It's not a perfect album by any means, but I don't think it wants to be. It just wants to, be. Musically it walks a proverbial tightrope and often loses balance. The beauty, however, is in the moments when it does fall. Because for every time Mazy Fly falls from the sky, there is always a safety net on standby briefly followed by the next enthusiastic trapeze flip in Chrystia Cabral's psychedelic circus of one.
  5. Tiny Mix Tapes
    Feb 25, 2019
    80
    Despite the flying dog daydream that inspired the record, Cabral often underlines the more fantastical elements of her work with a deep sense of melancholy.
  6. The 405
    Feb 22, 2019
    80
    Spelling continuously reinvents herself and her sound. What at first listen may turn many off bears repeated listening, through the often terrifying kaleidoscope of sound is a melodic pop centre.
  7. AllMusic
    Feb 22, 2019
    70
    There are a few moments on the album where the drums sound a little cluttered or it isn't quite clear what direction a song is going in, although perhaps that's to be expected for music meant to be this dreamlike--it's not always supposed to make perfectly logical sense. Regardless, the album is a delightful trip from an unmistakably original artist.

See all 10 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. nweditor
    Feb 25, 2019
    9
    I liked Spellling's debut, "Pantheon of Me," so much that I was nervous about this follow-up. I'd never heard anything quite like "Pantheon,"I liked Spellling's debut, "Pantheon of Me," so much that I was nervous about this follow-up. I'd never heard anything quite like "Pantheon," with its ghostly whispers, shifting tempos and offbeat accessibility. I'm thrilled to report that "Mazy" is similar in style but stranger in substance -- a welcome shift. The instrumentation is a bit broader and bolder, and the subject matter -- slave ships, aliens visiting Earth to dance and, you know, love -- is on the right side of the line between "out there" and "just silly." My only complaint is that the album passes quickly. I sense Spellling could create something a lot more epic, given the scope of her talent, and hope that's something to look forward to down the road. I'll note that the last time I was this interested in a follow-up, the artist was Badly Drawn Boy and the debut was 2000's "The Hour of Bewilderbeast." He never put out anything else even one-third as good as that album, and I'm so glad Spellling hasn't followed a similar trajectory.… Expand
  2. musicwizard636
    Mar 21, 2019
    7
    I'm thankful that music has Spellling in 2019. She has only introduced me to more unique and adventurous sounds that I hope to discover. WhichI'm thankful that music has Spellling in 2019. She has only introduced me to more unique and adventurous sounds that I hope to discover. Which seems so impossible in the giant ocean of music.… Expand
  4. All_ButTrU4
    Feb 11, 2022
    5
    sharp, wispy aches to flat, guttural releases, vocal notes move innately and curiously. She sings to discover as if every bellow imagines asharp, wispy aches to flat, guttural releases, vocal notes move innately and curiously. She sings to discover as if every bellow imagines a peace that her spoken voice cannot. ... [An] unpredictable, nuanced album.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

51
#51 Best Album of 2019

Current Music Releases

Full List »
99 Band on the Run [50th Anniversary Edition] - Paul McCartney & Wings
95 If I don't make it, I love u - Still House Plants
95 The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow - Charles Lloyd
92 COWBOY CARTER - Beyoncé
91 The Carnegie Hall Concert - Alice Coltrane
90 1989 (Taylor's Version) - Taylor Swift
90 Iechyd Da - Bill Ryder-Jones
90 This Could Be Texas - English Teacher
89 I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy
89 Black Bayou - Robert Finley
89 Tigers Blood - Waxahatchee
88 Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
88 What Now - Brittany Howard
88 Hey Panda - The High Llamas
88 Orquídeas - Kali Uchis
88 The Past Is Still Alive - Hurray for the Riff Raff
87 Filthy Underneath - Nadine Shah
87 i/o - Peter Gabriel
87 Blue Lips - ScHoolboy Q
87 Bright Future - Adrianne Lenker
All Current Music »