A spooky record just in time for the spooky season approaching. 

In their new studio album Spirit In The Room, Activity dives into their world of an ambient record. The album features a daunting and creepy feel throughout all of the songs, which makes it the perfect record with fall just around the corner. 

Activity is a four-member band based out of Brooklyn, New York who wrote and recorded this album during the pandemic, according to their Spotify bio. This album was also a product of some personal tragedies that lead vocalist Travis Johnson went through, which is clearly reflected in the vibes of this album. 

The album opens up with the track “Department Of Blood” which features softer ethereal vocals with a very daunting and almost unwelcoming rhythm to it. This sets the tone for a very spooky and almost Halloween-sounding album. The creepy themes are continued with the track “Careful Let’s Sleep Walk,” as the track features whispered background vocals and the repeated line “bash out my brain.” 

“Heaven Chords”, “I Like What You Like” and “Cloud Come Here” are more indie rock-sounding tracks, as they both feature clearer vocals and softer instrumentals while still keeping their creepy theme. Though these songs are more lyrically complex than some of the other tracks, they still feature ethereal instrumentation and a bit of synth-pop to set them aside from other indie records. 

The track “Icing” is one of the most engrossing songs on the record. It features a purely instrumental build-up at the beginning of the track and doesn’t feature any vocals till almost a minute in. When the vocals do come in, they are almost unrecognizable as they are ethereal background lyrics in the distance. 

The track closes out with “Susan Medical City,” which leans more toward the indie rock side of the album. This is also one of the saddest sounding tracks on the album as it lyrically sounds like a plea for his mother to come back to him. The emotion behind the track makes it a wonderful closer for the album.