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Initially the name Hardkandy sounds like a hard house act, but the
reality is far from that as the blissful rainfall of Dizzy Dumb comes
slowly into focus.
For this is essentially a come-down album, the second from the
Brighton-based outfit that has Simon Little and Tom Bidwell
as founder members, and it seems to be able to expand according to musical
demand. They alternate between vocal and instrumental textures, and the
record takes a thought provoking stance that gets under the skin in an
extremely subtle way - and stays there.
This is mostly down to the lyrics. Advice, for example, goes for the
soul searching with the line; "What advice shall I give, I can't tell you
how to live," while the semi-spiritual Hold On exhorts us to do exactly
that. Most striking of all the vocal tracks is the funky State Of You, not
exactly sympathetic in its declamations, saying: "Look at you and the state
you're in," before concluding; "You had it, and you fucking lost it," a real
eye-opener when spoken unaccompanied at the end.
Hardkandy's sensibilities of orchestration set them a notch above the
average down tempo album. Triage begins with a wonderfully full yet distant
brass chord, opening up into a widescreen number whose lumbering bass hints
at Massive Attack before a Coltrane-style sax comes in to steal the
thunder.
Brown Eyed Girl - no relation to the Van Morrison number -
takes a harmonica to funk things up with surprising grace. The vocals, too,
benefit from the production work and having some contrast among the singers
helps too - Sean Clarke's honeyed tones on the opener, Russ
Porter's laddish yet soft-toned voice on State Of You, and a guest slot
for Terry Callier, which helps explain the probing vocals of
Advice.
The handsome artwork features a slot with all the lyrics arranged in one
paragraph, indicating a concept to the album. "Jack was always the last to
leave," then; "one too many times Jack had consumed his advice", and then,
curiously in a closing song written six years ago; "happy beginnings and
second chances". It's the album in a nutshell, not always happy or blissful
by any means. Indeed, weary and deadbeat would sum up the opening few
tracks, but there is a distinctly optimistic edge that successfully exerts
itself by the end.
An assured piece of work then, of great interest to the Royksopp
and Zero 7 followers amongst you - and this can be filed slightly
left of them in your CD collection.
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