Ceres Calypso in the Deep Time Cover Art
The latest LP from the dream pop band Processed Claws turns out to be its well-nigh profound and impressive statement to appointment.
Ceres & Calypso in The Deep Time by Candy Claws. Flannelgraph Records.
Also often, dream pop is too damned dreamy for its own proficient—it is a genre consistently marred past a sense of thematic and esthetic complaisance. Its artists seem content to pull together uninspired arrangements that but layer on piles of ethereal textures, the tunes revolving effectually the aforementioned trite, trancy things sung in voices smothered in sickening amounts of reverb.
Even so, since the genre'southward genesis in the mid 80s, there take been a few precious exceptions. In 1999, The Flaming Lips and Sigur Rós released The Soft Bulletin and Ágætis byrjun (respectively)—ii classic albums that counterbalanced dream pop's warm, accessible sound with complex lyricism and exciting, multi-phased vocal structures. However, triumphs such equally these accept become increasingly rare.
Now, defying the unimaginative condition quo, comes Candy Claws. The Fort Collins-based duo consisting of Kay Bertholf and Ryan Hover have set out, in their ain words, "to discover what dream pop really sounds like. We've embraced the pop format considering it'due south 1 of the well-nigh fascinating challenges in music—to create pop songs that explore new realms of sound."
The latest LP from the band, Ceres & Calypso in The Deep Time, turns out to be its most profound and impressive argument to date. Vocaliser Karen McCormick has entered the fold, effectively making the human action a trio. Ryan and Kay accept also enlisted Chicago poet Jenn Morea to pen the lyrics while NYC composer Bryan Senti is treatment the orchestral accessory. Upping the artistic dues farther, Ceres & Calypso is an intricately-structured concept album, split into thirds to offer a transcendental account of each age of the Mesozoic Era.
The result is i of the almost ambitious and adventurous dream pop projects in contempo retentivity. The ingenuity is articulate from the opening tune, "Into the Deep Time," which is driven by a parading, enveloping synth texture that manages to come across as both heavenly and heavy at the aforementioned fourth dimension. The airy cymbal crashing in the background, along with the trio's breathy merely commanding vocals, brand the rail audio (and experience) larger-than-life.
Absolutely, the singing throughout this album does sometimes come off as sonic wallpaper. As is the case of too many dream pop artists, the vocals are treated every bit simply some other texture. However, Candy Claws' vocal performance here feels as if it set out to be subtle: the mix doesn't suggest that we are dealing with a reticent ring trying to cover up a lack of ability—a mendacious do that sadly pervades the genre.
The exploration of the Triassic Menstruation continues with the blooming, maraca-propelled "White Seal," followed by the plodding and particularly shoegazy "Fell in Love." The era is capped off with "Pangea Girls," whose guitar and synth tones lend the track a bit of a new-moving ridge vibe.
The Jurassic period is kicked off with "New Forest," a ditty in the mode of sixty's surf pop merely with muddy, distorted guitar riffs galore. The side by side number, "Transitional Bird," is arguably the disc'southward glorious centerpiece, its boisterous, garage rock verses giving way to powerful, deliberately-paced choruses that soar to fantastic heights—much like the magnificent bird that the runway'south lyrics hymn.
Another one of the LP'due south standout tracks is "Deception," which is a festive, bizarre popular melody driven by a French accordion tune. The Jurassic Catamenia comes to an end with "Fallen Tree Span," a turbulent tango married to a Spaghetti Western film score
The Cretaceous Menstruation begins on a rather tropical note with the kettle pulsate-filled "Nascency of the Flower." The audio becomes even tenser with the rapidly ascending and descending scales on "Illusion" but then mellows out again with the penultimate track, "Night Ela," whose spacious and serene instrumental seems to be deject rap-inspired. "Where I Found Y'all," reprises the tune of the opening track, ending the album on a cyclical annotation.
Ceres & Calypso in The Deep Time is non merely an extraordinary success as a genre experiment but stands on its own equally a a powerful collection of tuneful songs. Candy Claws is an deed much needed in the sedate world of dream pop—here are performers eager to create arrangements and approaches that shake up the usual reverie.
Source: https://artsfuse.org/89057/fuse-cd-review-dream-pop-gets-serious-the-ambitious-reach-of-candy-claws/
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