Album Artwork by Nick Corbo
EARLY PRAISE FOR HEAVEN’S JUST A CLOUD
“‘I Saw The Wheel’ is the work of an innovator more guitarists should have their eyes on” GUITAR WORLD
“Corbo was responsible for some of the heaviest moments in his old band’s discography and he continues digging into muddy and abrasive textures” STEREOGUM
“Across the record, tectonic slabs of drop-tuned guitars collide above an intricate, sure-footed rhythm section. Fingerpicked nylon string guitar breaks and a strong dash of cello accompaniment, seemingly at odds with any record primarily in Drop-C tuning, fit in perfectly--a testament to the fully-realized and cohesive nature of Corbo’s vision.” BROOKLYN VEGAN
"feels like a grungy take on a skygazing Americana band. The track’s earthen guitar tones recall those of Pile or Bad History Month before a brief guitar solo—and exactly one Lynch-soundtrack guitar twang—carry it up into the stratosphere.” FLOOD
“Jaw-dropping...from its subtly bluesy intro and crashing rock verses to its total breakdown halfway through—as if in observation of a moment of silence—and its gradual reconstitution, first as a lone acoustic guitar, then as a rapidly quickening kick drum that cues Corbo’s anguished howls, roiling percussion and metal riffage.” PASTE
“It’s safe to say no one saw that coming.” POST-TRASH
“doused with tasteful leads and suffocating fuzz” REVOLVER
“post-emo, Built to Spill, muddy, blues inspired” AUSTIN TOWN HALL
“a slow burning effort of heavy instrumentation and ambient atmospheres that coalesce in balance for one enticing listen” HEAVIEST OF ART
“just as you think 'I Saw The Wheel' will collapse in on itself – instead, it explodes. Pivoting into a black metal song, it finds Spirit Was transforming his apathy into elemental doomsaying” BPM
For the past few years multi-instrumentalist and illustrator Nick Corbo (formerly of LVL UP) began working on a new body of music and visual art as Spirit Was. On his debut studio album, Heaven’s Just a Cloud, Corbo explores heavy, distorted instrumentation and experimental techniques. His ability to focus on small details and weave them into vast networks is apparent in all of the music and artwork throughout his catalogue and especially now on Heaven’s Just A Cloud. In its density, the album is threaded with memorable lyrics and recapitulating musical themes that guide the listener. It’s haunting, beautiful scenes of the natural world feel just as represented in the warm, classic, wooden floors of country rock as they do in the dark, droning, shadows of doom and black metal.
Spirit Was feels at home among the technical, melodic songwriting of Harry Nilsson’s studio recordings, or the dusty, psychedelic oblivion of Earth and Wolves in the Throne Room. A departure from his previously collaborative recordings, the album features Corbo on drums, bass, guitar, and keyboards, fusing sweet, intentional melodies and vocal harmonies over a slamming, distorted rhythm section.
After receiving a recommendation from his former bandmate and Trace Mountains singer/songwriter Dave Benton, Corbo called on engineer Matt Labozza to record Heaven’s Just A Cloud. Principal tracking for the record began at Studio G in Brooklyn where Nick performed drums for the album, accompanied by talented cellist, Rashaad Jones on a majority of the tracks. Corbo and Laboza then finished the recordings in a makeshift studio above Division St Guitars in Peekskill, NY. As the recording began taking shape, Corbo reached out to longtime collaborator and Crying singer, Z Santos, to record additional vocals for a bulk of the album remotely from their home in Olympia, WA. Keyboardist and saxophonist Griffin Koelbel was also called on to add beautiful dark synthesizers to some additional studio material for the album, which was finally completed with mastering from Edsel Holden in Nashville, TN.
Outside of Spirit Was, Corbo is a professional producer, musician, and visual artist who, over the past 10 years, has produced a catalogue of studio albums, an extensive collection of hand-made and individually illustrated distortion pedals, and a large portfolio of intricate visual art, including the pen and ink drawings that adorn this album’s artwork.
Between Corbo’s primarily musical projects LVL UP and Crying he has released 5 studio albums working alongside record labels like Double Double Whammy and Sub Pop Records and has toured extensively in North America, UK and Europe. Overall Corbo wrote a third of the songs for LVL UP, including the daydreamy “Spirit Was” that would later inspire the name for his next project. With Spirit Was, Corbo continues a tradition of self referencial compositions; fans of his previous work in LVL UP will recognize recurring themes that have appeared throughout the band’s discography.
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