Candice Gordon - Garden Of Beasts [Proper Octopus Records]

Put on the circuit in early September via Proper Octopus Records is "Garden Of Beasts", the debut album by Candice Gordon who is, in parts, dealing with her Berlin years on this one. The full body of work is comprised of thirteen songs including the highly seductive Wave / Postpunk blueprint "I Belong To The Night" which has already been featured on these pages earlier this year. Building up tension with the instrumental "A Herd" we see the internationally raised, Ireland-born artist unfold and ethereal mysticism with the captivatingly longing "Smoke In The Air" whereas her "Hive Mind" comes up with a sweet, highly syncopated rhythm structure alongside off-rhythm guitar loops which suddenly turn into a killer PostPunk / Indie smash for the well-agitated and depressed and "Nobody" makes our heads fast bop to Country-infused uptempo Indie covered in Candice's yearning, echoeing vocal performance for a reason. "The Child" shows of her softer, ballad'esque and melancholia-infused side before exploding into a raw rollercoaster of pure energy, "Tomorrow" weighs in Folk-infused singer / songwriter qualities as well as big time romanticism whilst "The Kill", a fascinating skit in its own right, weighs in enough eerieness to be included in any psychologically deep horror score before the distorted "Freedom, A Beautiful Illusion" fuses a bluesy DesertRock twang, marching drums and heartfelt, melodic Folk lyricism to a great, anthemic effect which makes this one one of the main tunes of the entire album. Following the "Laws Of Nature" to near the seven minutes mark we're crossing lovely AltPop meets Goth meets PostPunk territories, the "Goddess Of Mercy" is depicted by another well calming Folk inspired episode followed by the Flute-led, slightly Prog-flavored snippet of "Flacks" leading into the final cut "In Golden Dreams" which is a fine, melancholic Pop bit sporting loads of deep twang guitars to accompany one whilst staring into the setting sun on a beautiful summers day. Proper, this.

Album artwork on Instagram!