Candy Says

An electro-pop band from Oxford

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Yikes this is seriously blowing up with all the Shazams.

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The people setting up a cassette label

Ben and Jules Walker have set up a music label with a difference.

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Get in the groove! The final line-up for Ritual Union has been announced, and it's going to be a right old shindig.

We're crafting a special set with a psychedelic twist. Don't forget to buy a ticket...

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Tomorrow (Friday August 4th 2017) Bandcamp is donating its share of all sales to the Transgender Law Center. Even just as a statement this is a big deal and the comments we've seen around the web have been overwhelmingly positive (apart from the trolls, obv). But the amount of money raised will also make a huge difference.

Back in February when Trump was issuing his travel ban and Bandcamp ran a fundraiser in support of the ACLU, there were over $1,000,000 in sales in a day and Bandcamp's 10-15% cut was donated. That's huge, and I'd love it if this one reached the same amount.

So to make it easier for you to join in, I've cobbled together a list of albums I've bought recently that I think you'll love. There's a bit of everything in here – click on a few and I bet you'll find something you like. Most (maybe all) of these artists and labels have also said that they will donate their share of Friday's sales too.

Swear I'm Good At This by Diet Cig

Fun pop punk with a glitter cassette.

The Le Sigh Vol. III by Father/Daughter Records

Still in pre-order but guaranteed to be great.

I'm Not Your Man by Marika Hackman

Clever catchy indie pop rock tunes.

Dry Food by Palehound

Smart lo-fi indie with queer attitude.

Tropical Fires EP by VIRTUALS

A new chillwave project from our hero Chad!

Holographic by Daniel Wohl

Intense ambient found-sound landscapes.

Cardinal by Pinegrove

Drawling American guitar rock.

Golden Tongue EP by Magana

Intimate chilled indie with some unexpected turns.

Heart-Headed by Liset Alea

Super-sultry tunes from the Nouvelle Vague singer.

I Don't Want to Let You Down by Sharon Van Etten

Understated killer tracks that sneak up on you.

Kidsticks by Beth Orton

A beautiful experiment from our all-time favourite.

Soft Sounds From Another Planet by Japanese Breakfast

Intriguing sounds and maybe-genius lyrics.

Sudan Archives by Sudan Archives

A curve ball. Violin-led one-woman R&B.

Weather Diaries by RIDE

Oxford's early 90s legends get back on the horse.

Oh, and don't buy them yet. Wait until tomorrow!

— Ben

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It's official! We're supporting Stevie Parker at Modern Art Oxford in July. It's going to sell out in advance, partly because the tickets are FREE. That's right. It's free to get in, but you need a ticket. So don't be a chump – go and get a ticket right now.

If it's anything like the Willie J. Healey gig downstairs at MAO last month, it'll be an absolute blast. It's a great place to see bands.

See you there!

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We are DELIGHTED to have been chosen to open the main stage at Common People this Saturday. We're playing a short (15 minute) set at 11am. If you're still in bed when we play, we understand. We'll be hanging around the festival site all day, so come and say hi anyway. :)

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We're supporting The Japanese House at the Oxford O2 Academy tomorrow night. I would usually use an exclamation mark there, but this isn't that sort of gig. It's très cool, as the kids say. We were listening to these guys all last week after a shady tip-off that we might get the gig, and we're now card-carrying fans. If you haven't heard them, check this video out, take a moment to recover then go and buy tickets.

See you there.

Oh yeah, we're on stage at 19:45 so don't dilly dally.

It's so difficult not to use exclamation marks.

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After an extended hiatus other than scoring the film Burn, Burn, Burn, Candy Says return to action, reduced to a duo, having dispensed with all their old songs. Bad news? Not a bit of it. It takes about ten seconds for Julia Walker to remind us she’s possibly the best singer in Oxford, a magnificent balance of strength and vulnerability, and as she and husband Ben nestle into a short set of downbeat, atmospheric electronic pop they reveal themselves as something new and genuinely wonderful, Julia’s voice soaring effortlessly over Ben’s beds of woozy synthetic whirrs and clicks, at one point sounding like Sinead O’Connor if she’d grown up listening to Grimes. ‘Butterflies’ is a stark, hymnal ode to a former Colombian presidential candidate, but it’s ‘Whatever Comes’, equal parts desolate and hopeful, that proves to be the highlight of a set that is, quite simply, stunning.

http://nightshiftmag.co.uk/2017/may.pdf

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We've been invited to join French electro-pop chanteuse Mélanie Pain on tour in April. We'll be playing Birmingham, Bristol, Mandchester and London for the first time in ages, and with a whole new #brexitwave sound. Get your tickets here!

Photo by Dom G-H.

UPDATE: If you buy your tickets for the London show directly from the promoter's site you can use the promo code CANDY17 for £5 off!

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It looks like the UPP show is sold out! So I guess now it's time to let you know about another little Candy Says outing...

On Saturday 17th December we'll play a special Christmas edition of All Tamara's Parties along with our favourite boat-dwelling poet George Chopping, Rainbow Reservoir (who we saw the other day for the first time and is splended), Bethany Weimers and the titular Tamara.

We'll be playing NEW SONGS. Not songs from the film, NEW NEW SONGS that we have never played before.

It's an acoustic gig, so it'll just be the two of us, but we're working on a setup that will let us bring a few toys along to make some fun noises.

There's a Facebook event and you can buy tickets through Bandcamp.

Deck the halls with boughs of brexitwave!

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Candy Says is playing a show in Oxford!

I know. You might want to sit down. It seems like a generation has passed since we last played. And in a way it has – our daughter is 18 months old. Nightshift called it an "extended hiatus"; we like to think of it as parental leave. Either way, grab your filofax and your 4-colour biro. There's a date to write down.

On Friday 2nd December the Ultimate Picture Palace is showing Burn Burn Burn (for which we wrote the score with Marc Canham, in case you haven't been following along) and we're going to play a set before the film.

Burn Burn Burn has been shown all over the place at film festivals, on Netflix around the world (except in the UK) then more recently at screenings around the country. But there was no plan to show it in Oxford, which was LAME because we wanted to be able to show it to everyone and have a big party! It's not every day you get to write the entire score for a film and play a gig in a cinema. So we kept dropping hints to the production people and they eventually sorted out a screening at our favourite cinema in the world. High five to the UPP!

So let's do this! You can book tickets now, and we have three weeks to sell the place out. Obviously, you have the good taste to want to see a Candy Says show. But in case you need some ammunition to persuade someone else to come with you, show them the trailer for the film and maybe even this lovely review! It's a joyful, tears-and-laughter emotional comedy full of swearing and cameos. You will love it. Your date will love it. Your cynical friends will love it. Your mum will really love it. Bring them all!

Oh, and if you do Facebook, there's an event.

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We went to see Josie Long's new show SOMETHING BETTER last week. Bloody brilliant. It's on in London until the end of this week – go go go!. Or fly to New York in November/December and see her there. Less convenient, but still totally worth it.

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It's the new Burn Burn Burn trailer and it's chock full of Candy Says tunes. Not long now...

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More awards for Burn Burn Burn!

We heard yesterday that Burn Burn Burn just won the Grand Prix at the Odessa Film Festival in Ukraine. It's the audience award, which means it was the festival audience's overall favourite film. Nice!

While we weren't looking it also won the audience awards at Umbria Film Festival (Italy) and Cinema City (Serbia). Blimey!

All these awards must mean that the film is going to hit the cinema soon, so we're gradually pulling together a coherent soundtrack album to release at the same time.

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We're so sad to hear that Alessandro Brigante, a great friend and supporter of the band, died last week.

Alessandro and Chiara have travelled from Italy many times to see our gigs, and always brought a lot of joy. Alessandro was a music lover, a keen photographer and had the most infectious laugh. We'll always appreciate the times we spent together.

Good bye, Alessandro. We're going to miss you.