Columbus experimental band Sweet Teeth is the mystical brothers-led duo of Stew (guitar, vocals) and Sam (cello) Johnson. Their musical examinations are fresh, thoughtful and unparalleled. This is extremely prevalent by listening to the group’s previous two projects, Soft Landing On The Sun and Body Weather. How does the group’s latest release hold up, though? The release of When The Spirit Comes All Over You certainly marks a step in a more introspective direction for Sweet Teeth.

For context, this album was released on November 20 and recorded on Sweet Teeth’s back porch in late September. The LP was inspired by a series of park shows set up by the band this past summer. Stew wanted to epitomize in song the energy of these shows through more acoustic sounds that celebrate nature and community. This is achieved very early on, specifically over the first two tracks.

When The Spirit Comes All Over You by Sweet Teeth

On “The Spirit,” we’re greeted by an ambience of bugs chirping, traffic flowing, a distant church bell and human-made rustlings, just to name a few. This flawlessly leads into “Variations,” where acoustic strums of the guitar – done so in a plucky, tuning-like manner – bleed into the aforementioned outdoor symphony.  It devolves into an ambient composition filled with mystery; it’s pleasant at the same time anxiety-ridden. The plucking steadily intensifies, and about halfway through the second track, a poem is read, leaving us with these words: “The carriage passes. The song is sung. The season turns to colors only vibrant in the mind, coming together, pulling apart.”

The opening two tracks strucky differently than a typical Sweet Teeth tune tends to. “Sungazer” more fits into the warpy, fun-loving moods we’re used to. It also marks the start of a second act; one that is warmer and sunnier, both in lyrical content and sonics. The hopeful reprise – an over-joyous “It will come in time, you know it will” – captures this change perfectly. It’s important to note this initial mutation and transition on WTSCAOY because they’re frequent over the 10-track project. 

The different textures of warmth on this album makes for an enjoyable, comforting listen in today’s frigid state. Sam’s string-playing on the following track, “Snowdance,” paints a more contemplative picture and change in pace while still remaining hopeful. Transformations throughout WTSCAOY creep up and morph like the seasons do in Midwest environments. This is eloquently presented throughout the album via Sam’s moving cello playing and Stew’s fervid songwriting.

WTSCAOY can be interpreted as an extremely hopeful record. This becomes very clear by the sixth track, “Everything Is Alive.” The refrain of the song title is a joyous celebration of appreciating the little things in life and also the gratefulness sentient beings should have for existence. Two tracks later on “Really Coming Down,” Stew sings, “Don’t cry, the trees will all be fine/They’re just tired, just like you and I.” Life is cycles. We’ve been here and there before.

There’s a lot of barebones guitar on this album, which is quite different than the experimentation in stretching sounds I heard and enjoyed on the past two records. While WTSCAOY  has less to offer in terms of strange, magical effects, Sweet Teeth is still able to maintain the same grade of deconstruction it upholds so well over its discography. Repetitive sounds are being expanded in an ambient-like manner, while the appreciation deepens with each recurrent phrase. 

The ambient sandwiching of the first two and final two tracks is the glue that holds yet another Sweet Teeth masterpiece together. “Ripples,” the second-to-last song, sounds like it’s plucked right from a film scorer’s arsenal, evoking as much emotion and painting as may pictures as Stew’s profound lyrical offering did on this project. There aren’t as many wacky noodlings on WTSCAOY compared to past albums, but Sweet Teeth still kept the experimentation on 10 when it comes to themes of deconstruction and ambient music.

For that reason, every listenthrough is a delightful challenge.

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