Candle is a rough 'n' ready folk band from the Central California coast where the sea meets the open road. It's an easy place to wander, but the ocean is always a constant gauge of your progress (or lack thereof). After three years of lineup changes, going to school, dropping out of school, traveling to Alaska and Chile, leader Kevin Coons wrangled up the gang in a studio in San Luis Obispo and recorded his latest collection of bright-eyed musings, evocatively titled The River You Drink From Will Drown You.
Ever since Candle's first official release Birds Were Meant to Fly, they have streamlined their post-rock-meets-country stylings to a form that is more assured and (dare I say) accessible. However, it's immediately obvious that the hooks from 2008's Miles and Miles and Miles are missing. What remains is a more measured and raw set of songs that often reward with due attention.
Songs like "Snowfall on an Anchorage Graveyard" and "We Won't Ever Die" benefit from a new stripped down sound. What could have come off as a crawling dirge, "Graveyard" feels alive with the arpeggiated acoustic picking and Coons' developing raspy singing. Lovely vocalist Chloe Smith adds an airy twist onto "Die," a tune so relaxed with its "we will never die" chorus you'd swear we were sitting in a jazz lounge in heaven.
Ironically, just as Miles' brightest moments were due to its pop hooks, many of the poppier numbers on River ("Like Ghosts" or "El Rio") feel obligatory and stiff. The main exception is "My Old Ways," which expresses Candle's ideal attitude. Young people feel pain, but we are still young enough to not lose faith. And with a bit of wandering, we'll find our way home someday.
Listen:
Candle-"My Old Ways"
Look:
Candle on bandcamp
Support:
Purchase from Real Love Records
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