Candy Claws

Candy Claws are a dream pop ensemble fascinated with the sounds of nature as well as those created by human beings. Dense and noisy yet intricate and hook-filled, their music applies the blown-out heaviness of shoegaze to Elephant 6-style neo-psychedelia, sometimes incorporating glitchy electronics or Baroque pop influences. First appearing in 2008 with Two Airships/Exploder Falls, composed as an alternate soundtrack to the Werner Herzog film The White Diamond, the group toured frequently and released music at a prolific pace. Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time, an ambitious concept album featuring fantasy-like lyrics by poet Jenn Morea, appeared in 2013 and earned critical acclaim, gradually attracting a cult following. Two of the group's members expanded on the album's exotica-tinged sound as part of the band Sound of Ceres, whose debut album appeared in 2016. Candy Claws re-formed in 2023, recording a song titled "Distortion Spear" for the tenth anniversary reissue of Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time. Consisting of Ryan Hover, K Hover, and Hank Bertholf, Candy Claws formed in Fort Collins, Colorado in 2007, writing songs reflecting their shared interests in electronics, droning shoegaze rock, and classic psychedelic pop. The group began recording material in a home studio as well as during their travels -- K capturing ocean sounds during a trip to Italy and Ryan documenting sounds of nature while visiting his family in the Philippines, all of which was incorporated into their music. Two Airships/Exploder Falls, a pair of lengthy compositions inspired by the 2004 Werner Herzog documentary The White Diamond, was issued digitally in 2008 as the first Candy Claws recording. When the musicians discovered Rachel Carson's classic book on marine life The Sea Around Us, it became a crucial inspiration, and informed the style and structure of the first Candy Claws album, In the Dream of the Sea Life. Originally released in 2009 by the tiny Wave Magic label, In the Dream of the Sea Life was picked up for release by the respected Irish independent label Indiecater Records and earned enthusiastic reviews from the international music press. In 2010, Candy Claws issued their second album, Hidden Lands, through Twosyllable Records; like their debut, Hidden Lands was inspired by a book on the natural world, The Secret Life of the Forest by Richard M. Ketchum. By this time, Candy Claws had expanded into an eight-piece performing unit, and they appeared at venues throughout the United States. Later in the year, the group issued Warm Forever, a brief Christmas-themed EP featuring songs by side project Firebreather. Dreamland Soundtrack - Season 1, the group's instrumental music for a series of nature documentaries, appeared in 2011. Candy Claws and Mike Adams at His Honest Weight released the two-song split tribute single Sing Starflyer 59 through Flannelgraph Records in early 2012. A vinyl pressing of Two Airships/Exploder Falls was issued later in the year. Candy Claws' third album, Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time, was a collaboration with poet Jenn Morea, who had been looking for music related to Rachel Carson's works, and found In the Dream of the Sea Life. Morea composed lyrics for Ceres & Calypso, a concept album about a girl and a seal-like beast on a quest through the Mesozoic era. Each of the band's members sang different parts corresponding to the story, and New York-based composer Bryan Senti provided orchestral arrangements built from Philip Glass' sample library. The album was released in 2013, followed by companion release Ceres & Calypso Instrumentals in Dual Mono, a much less noisy, vocal-free version of the album emphasizing its exotica and '60s pop influences. Candy Claws disbanded around 2015, and K and Ryan Hover formed another band, Sound of Ceres, also including members of the Apples in Stereo and the Drums. Mixing bossa nova and psychedelic pop influences, the band released their debut album, Nostalgia for Infinity, in 2016. The Twin followed in 2017, and the band earned attention for their inventive live performances, featuring costume changes and light shows. Emerald Sea, inspired by Les Baxter's exotica, Maurice Ravel's ballet Daphnis et Chloé, and Gustav Holt's The Planets suite, appeared in 2022. Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time's status as a cult classic continued to increase, and Candy Claws released a tenth anniversary edition in 2023. The double-gatefold vinyl pressing included Ceres & Calypso Instrumentals in Dual Mono, as well as a bonus CD containing "Distortion Spear," the first new Candy Claws song since 2011.
© Paul Simpson & Mark Deming /TiVo