Textura: Spiritual America Best of 2019

If a classically minded prog-rocker were to create a song cycle featuring a female lead singer, electronics, strings, electric guitars, brass, percussion, and woodwinds, it might sound something like Spiritual America. To describe it as audacious isn't off-base, but for the Brooklyn-based Brittelle it's consistent with the kind of genre-bending material for which he's become known. In fact, the recording plays as if the New Amsterdam Records co-founder set out to distill every bold gesture the label stands for into a single statement. On paper, the project could appear bombastic, what with the army of resources utilized, yet he somehow makes full use of said resources without the result becoming overblown.