Candy Claws – Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time

Part shoegaze, part dream pop, part “Soft Bulletin”-era Flaming Lips, the new Candy Claws album came out last week, and it’s full of both hooks and nuance. “Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time” is a triumph of songwriting and execution. The shoegazey foundation supports melt-in-your-ears vocal lines and choruses, and the whole LP provides a bit of soft sandpaper for the soul, scraping away the barnacles to reveal an almost spiritual sheen.
On “Ceres & Calypso”, Candy Claws pushes a shiny neo-psychedelic haze full of instantly accessible tunes, with just enough layering and subtlety to make you want to dig deeper with repeated listening. No song overstates its welcome, each dream floats by in its time with no wasted motion. New York composer Bryan Senti provides orchestration for every other track comprised entirely of Phillip Glass samples. If it sounds like they threw in the kitchen sink, you’d be mistaken. While the goals are lofty, the concept drawn from the history of extinct reptiles, and the foundation for each song drawn from a Chicago poet, this is masterful songwriting tied into a full LP with no holes.
If you’ve heard anything from the album, chances are you’ve heard the first single, Transitional Girl (Clever Bird). All shimmering keyboards and bendy notes, it’s as good a place as any to see what these clever Coloradans are up to.

But we’re not content to leave you with just the first single. Perhaps the most immediately impactful song to our audience is the opener, Into the Deep Time (One Sun). It’s an otherworldly fanfare, and a perfect introduction to this awesomely textured sound.

An truly impressive album from beginning to end, certain to leave you wanting more.
Find “Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time” at Two Syllable Records’ Bandcamp.
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