Candy Claws' Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time turns dream pop into a strange, storybook world. The songs move through bright pop melodies, indie rock shape and shoegaze blur, with titles that read like fragments from a lost science-fiction tale. “Into the Deep Time (One Sun)” opens the set, while “White Seal (Shell & Spine)” and “Fell in Love (At the Water)” introduce the two central figures. The whole thing has the feel of a sequence rather than a stack of unrelated tracks, though the fantasy framing may be more appealing to some than others.
The record comes from the New York-associated Candy Claws, active since 2008, with Ryan Hover producing in Fort Collins, Jenn Morea writing the lyrics in Chicago and Bryan Senti handling the orchestrations in New York. Hank Bertholf, Karen McCormick of Hover and Hover are credited in the roles of Calypso, Ceres and The Deep Time. Its manuscript-like backstory follows a white seal, a girl and a world before recorded time, giving the album plenty of room for wonder without spelling everything out. Dream pop and shoegaze fans should find the pairing of soft-focus pop and elaborate narrative familiar, especially if they like records that feel built as complete worlds. The paid release is available in FLAC 16/44, ALAC, WAV, AIFF and MP3 320, alongside CD and double vinyl.
