Music Review//Candidate - Psychic Dissonance From the Unself
They say you should never judge something by name alone. However when we read the spectacular title of Candidate's second album, Psychic Dissonance From the Unself we knew we were onto something special.
Opening with the all enveloping resonance of April Again, the natural first sneak peek from the album, it's an introduction that makes instant connections. The progressive, warm chords that greet the listener are the pay off to the brilliant cover art work and the psych influences are plain to hear and refreshing. The bands genre tag of Dream Rock is perhaps typified here and as the album progresses we hear other facets of the bands music.
The quietly melancholic One Day You Will Be Old Fashioned is another highlight, with the killer of combination of those dream like guitar riffs and vocals that evoke the sheer feeling of the lyrics they give life to eloquently. Untimely End is less reverb soaked and presents a marching beat drum and acoustic guitar paired with said vocals and it's a simpler affair but no less effective. Indeed, the album drifts into an ever more dream like state as it progresses.
One of the more sonically urgent moments, evoking somewhat The Cure on occasion, is A Place for My Soul and it's here we see the bands strengths on show. Killer playing, atmospherics to float off into the darkened sunset on and those impassioned vocals again. By the time we reach the albums final duo of songs, with NYC bringing the energy back to the mix once more and Winter Thoughts ending on the opposite note to opener April Again, with a snow tinged blues ode to love, we've been on a journey. It's a journey that brings rays of sun, voices of hope and despair and most of all, a passion rarely heard in music.
Reviewed by Sebastian Gahan.
The quietly melancholic One Day You Will Be Old Fashioned is another highlight, with the killer of combination of those dream like guitar riffs and vocals that evoke the sheer feeling of the lyrics they give life to eloquently. Untimely End is less reverb soaked and presents a marching beat drum and acoustic guitar paired with said vocals and it's a simpler affair but no less effective. Indeed, the album drifts into an ever more dream like state as it progresses.
One of the more sonically urgent moments, evoking somewhat The Cure on occasion, is A Place for My Soul and it's here we see the bands strengths on show. Killer playing, atmospherics to float off into the darkened sunset on and those impassioned vocals again. By the time we reach the albums final duo of songs, with NYC bringing the energy back to the mix once more and Winter Thoughts ending on the opposite note to opener April Again, with a snow tinged blues ode to love, we've been on a journey. It's a journey that brings rays of sun, voices of hope and despair and most of all, a passion rarely heard in music.
Reviewed by Sebastian Gahan.
