Auditorium is the project of Los Angeles-based artist Spencer Berger. All of the instruments and vocals on his multi-layered recordings are performed by Berger himself. He will release his third full-length album, Life Changer, on October 27.

Originally hailing from Queens, New York, Berger began performing at the age of nine as a member of The Metropolitan Opera’s Children’s Chorus, singing onstage with such golden-throated legends as Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo. 

Auditorium’s debut album, Be Brave, dropped jaws thanks to Berger’s goosebump-inducing voice and his gift for crafting genre-defying arrangements that framed his instant-earworm melodies. Then, The First Music pulled off a magic trick by unearthing beauty in some of life's darkest, most harrowing corners.

Now, Berger is returning with Life Changer — his most personal album to date. Inspired by a period in his life that was both terrifying and extraordinary, the album takes the listener on a visceral journey as Berger grapples with matters of life and death, as well as his own emotional turmoil.

 “My wife faced several significant health hurdles while we were trying to conceive our first child,” explains Berger. “Then, when she went into labor, she developed a life-threatening condition called HELLP Syndrome. It’s a particularly devastating form of preeclampsia that can lead to stroke and death.”

Fortunately, the story has a happy ending: their child was born healthy, and Berger’s wife recovered after spending five days in the Maternal Fetal Care Unit.

Throughout Life Changer, Berger sheds all protective armor and unveils his innermost thoughts — baring every nook and cranny of his psyche as he chronicles the struggles his wife faced, as well as the intense anxieties and fears that he himself dealt with during the ordeal.

While Auditorium’s previous albums were built largely around acoustic guitars and spare use of percussion, Life Changer has a noticeably different sonic texture. “Whenever I was working on these songs, I’d find myself reaching for my electric guitar, so that just naturally became the primary instrument that the album was built around,” explains Berger. “And while my last album featured percussion on several tracks, it was always playing more of a supporting role — but this album has several songs that demanded the percussion be front and center.”

Yet the instrument which can’t help but grab the spotlight is Berger’s voice, which he uses to stunning effect — both as a captivating lead vocalist, and by arranging majestic harmonies that soar throughout the album. At times, the wall of sound that Berger creates with his voice feels as if it’s emanating from an entire choir.

As low as Berger’s emotional state sinks over the course of Life Changer, it is perhaps the album’s defining quality that there is always hope lurking on the periphery of his despair. “Deep down, I’m an optimist,” Berger says. “My mother’s side of the family was murdered at the hands of the Nazis, yet my grandfather remained unflinching in his belief that no matter how bad things get, one shouldn’t stop believing that things can change for the better. The greatest gift he and my grandmother gave me was an understanding that human beings can endure far, far worse than I’ve ever experienced, and come out the other side.”