The Ophelias Conjure Ghosts on “Spring Grove”
The Ophelias, Spring Grove
The Ophelias’ fourth album Spring Grove is haunted. Born of a collection of demos and writings accumulated over the years, there is a palpable feeling of revisiting the bygone throughout, as if the band is wandering amongst the quiet spectres of the past. It is apt, then, that the album is named after a cemetery in the band’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. The lead single, “Cumulonimbus,” offers us the thesis statement of the record when lead singer and lyricist Spencer Peppet reminds us that “the memories you locked into the trunk of the car are going to start to bang on the back window.” Sometimes, you have to look in the rearview mirror.
Spring Grove is an excavation and reexamination of the band’s various connections and experiences under the careful guide of producer Julien Baker, setting achingly vulnerable lyrics to expansive yet delicate musical backdrops. It’s a cohesive collection of songs exploring various relationship dynamics, both internal and external. But don’t be mistaken, it’s not a breakup album by any means - Peppet has made this much clear. “There’s so much more beyond heartbreak to write about,” she has asserted in the press, and the record is compelling evidence of such.
The Ophelias via Instagram
Songs continually reference time gone by: “I don’t see you anymore, it’s been 3 years, I’m better off” on the album opener “Open Sky”; “Summer of 2014 in the Spring Grove cemetery, neither one would be the first to speak” on the title track. Nostalgia runs through the record like a pulsing vein, delivering essential lifeblood to each track. Listening to the album is like finding a box of your old stuff in your parents’ basement, digging through it until you find a letter or Polaroid that takes you back in time and breaks your heart. Peppet’s ability to convey this bittersweet feeling through her lyrics and vocals cannot be understated.
A major highlight throughout Spring Grove is Andrea Guttman Fuentes on the violin. The harmonization between the strings and Peppet’s voice adds an ethereal layer to tracks like “Vulture Tree,” “Gardenia,” and the titular “Spring Grove.” There's a delicacy there, a careful handling of the heavy themes Peppet explores lyrically buoyed by heavenly arrangements. There are grungier offerings on the record, like the vengeful “Salome” and the aggrieved “Sharpshooter.” Especially in the latter, drummer Mic Adams is really able to shine, upping the tempo and expanding the emotional palette of the record to include delicious and essential rage. Supplemented by moments of birdsong or cicadas, the record is lush and multidimensional, a sonic garden in an old graveyard in the middle of summer.
Baker’s touch can be heard throughout - she plays guitar and sings harmonies on most tracks - but Spring Grove feels purely of The Ophelias. Perhaps this speaks to where the band is today and how far they have come both individually and as a unit since their inception as a band over a decade ago. Coupled with homemade music videos directed by Peppet and bassist Jo Shaffer, Spring Grove tells many stories with the care and perspective only time and distance can give us. The final track of the album, “Shapes,” finds Peppet pleading over gentle guitar strumming “I would love it if you could stop coming to me in my dreams, I would love a minute just to figure out what it means.” Whatever it means, being haunted by these ghosts of people and places and things, it seems she has finally made peace with their presence.
