Candy Claws
Aloha! Ryan here from Candy Claws. A little about ourselves and In the Dream of the Sealife: Kay and I spent our first two years as a band writing and recording the music. It always had a nautical theme, perhaps because of the mystery of the ocean. Then I discovered Rachel Carson’s book, The Sea Around Us, hidden away on a shelf at my grandparents’ house, and the whole album came into focus.
Miss Carson’s book, though scientific non-fiction, is imbued with such beauty and mystery— written in such elegant prose it feels more like poetry; a hymn to the sea. That’s what we were feeling for in our recordings, too. So, we decided to make the album a ‘musical companion’ to the book. In June of 2008, Kay and I went to Italy with her high school art class, and recorded ocean sounds on the shores of Portovenere and Monterosso. Then in October, I went to the Philippines with my mom, sister, and grandmother to meet our extended family for the first time. I recorded more ocean sounds at San Fernando and San Esteban on the island of Luzon.
It was important to us to include sounds we had recorded ourselves, in places we loved, because sound effects tend to be gimmicky, but this way it seemed a lot more personal, and it’s exciting to be able to say the album was recorded in three different countries! Anyway, we made all the music in Fort Collins at a place called Flashy Storm, which is also called Ryan’s Bedroom when I go to sleep.
You can enjoy it as a pop album, complete with grand hooks and nice beats. But you can also dive beneath the surface and explore the curious arrangements and mysterious sounds. Soon you will hear a synth lead reappearing later in the album as a vocal melody at half the speed, or the chords from the intro to one song ringing out again in the chorus of a different song, or entire portions of songs sampled and re-sampled until they float by as a glimmer during the bridge of yet another song. With all the songs referencing each other in subtle ways, and with each song transitioning smoothly into the next, I think the album has a nice flow, and feels very much like a single work.
Our favorite bands at the time, who really influenced the sound: the Beach Boys, Starflyer 59, the Lassie Foundation, My Bloody Valentine, Cornelius, and maybe you can guess a few more?
In the Dream of the Sealife is digitally available on Indiecater Records.
Catamaran from Candy Claws on Vimeo.
Some Sweet-as-Candy Press:
“Summer isn’t over yet, folks. Given all the sunny dance-pop goodness we’ve seen over the past couple of years, it’s not exactly a surprise to hear more artists heading to the beach for inspiration. But the startling thing about Fort Collins, Colo., duo Candy Claws— and “Catamaran”, from their soon-to-be-reissued full-length, In the Dream of the Sea Life— isn’t that they exist. It’s that, after everyone from Panda Bear and El Guincho to Delorean and Julian Lynch, this track still sounds like a rejuvenating escape.
Atop sighing ocean field recordings, “Catamaran” sets out for where the warm things are. If this sort of Pet Sounds-worshiping tropical bricolage brings to mind Panda Bear or early Cornelius, the reverby acoustic guitars and hushed boy/girl harmonies— not to mention Candy Claws’ past Ace of Base cover— more closely suggest the pop aquatic of Air France, jj, or the Tough Alliance’s Escaping Your Ambitions. “I’ve seen this place in dreams,” goes one line. Tighten this song up a little bit, or change my local weather forecast for the week, and it would be even better.” – PITCHFORK
“…an album with immense depth…” – FENSE POST
“…a truly satisfying listen that flows perfectly from start to finish…I can safely put this on the ‘Best of 2009’ list…”-NEW DUST
“…dreamy, heartwarming, and seductive…”-THE NEEDLE DROP
© 2009
Mushpot Records
Brooklyn, NY
http://www.mushpotpr.com
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