A journey to the soul: Through their surges and shortfalls over two decades, the Spree continue to be one of the most beloved names in the soaring Dallas rock landscape.

For 2023, they embark on a new journey.

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For a band with a seemingly small outpouring of devotion, The Polyphonic Spree is synonymous to pivotal moments in music and culture. Compartmentalised into 23 musicians dowsed in robes, the angelic temperament of The Spree has graced our wispy seedlings of rock since their now-classic debut in 2002. Now in 2023, they embark on a rebirthing of the ages with new efforts, Salvage Enterprise.

A familiarity to this band may be through their signature single of Light & Day / Reach for the Sun; which has had more its fair share in orbits through popular culture, making its first stop in Carrey’s powerful blockbuster Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Beyond Tim scoring Mills’s Thumbsucker and contributing a cover of Nirvana’s Lithium in award-winning hit The Big Short, the band have made eight studio albums along the way, each dripped in more decadence than the last.

The Polyphonic Spree embrace the fact that a splash of sunshine goes a long way. And Salvage Enterprise is no different. From the soaring climactic of Section 48 (Shadows On The Hillside) to the choral enchantments in empowering opener Galloping Seas, it enriches both the songwriting grandeur of Simon & Garfunkel and the polished flutterings from funky zinfandels The Go! Team.

Folky acoustics Give Me Everything sees the collective at their most vulnerable; their most spaced. While Hop Off The Fence denotes an introspective epilogue to Beatles’ Strawberry Fields, Open The Shores is a orchestral flying-high escape that really captures both DeLaughter’s lead and choral strength of his aides.

If music can hide you away from reality, Spree’s Salvage Enterprise is a visionary escape, an immovable blockade as the beautiful makings weave in and out of technicolour and sepia; all depending on when you catch yourself listening to the 9-song chronicle. An immediate breakaway from 2021’s Afflatus, LeDaughter and co have really taken the two years to come up with an album at their best.

This is your AOTW//.

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FFO: Melancolony, George Whistler