CANDY Share New Music Video for "Human Condition Above Human Opinion" from Upcoming Album Heaven Is Here (Relapse Records)
"Candy" has been a term/name that will be forever associated with Punk/Hardcore music since Iggy Pop's 1990 hit single "Candy" with Kate Pierson (The B-52's) from his Don Was-produced solo album, Brick By Brick. CANDY is, also, a Richmond, Virginia-based Metal-tinged Punk/Hardcore band that's been active since about 2017. CANDY's current line-up consists of Zak Quiram, Steve Digenio, Michael Quick, Andrew Stark, and Kaleb Perdue. CANDY self-released their three-tarck demo in 2017, followed by Candy Says EP (2017) and full-length debut, Good to Feel (2018) on Triple-B Records, and Super-Stare EP (2019) on Relapse Records. Just yesterday, CANDY re-emerged to announce their highly-anticipated Relapse Records album-length debut with Heaven Is Here. The critically-acclaimed band is poised to break past the preconceived notions often applied of Metal, Hardcore, and Punk with one of 2022's most extreme and truly unique records.
Heaven Is Here puts together so many disparate elements with the confidence and care to graft their relativities together under what sounds like extreme duress. CANDY specifically strives to replicate moments of impact and anxiety, obsessive-compulsive thinking, and extreme cynicism—aiming to provide the listener with an aural journey that allows for an outlet for these overwhelming feelings. Blazing opener "Human Condition Above Human Opinion" and the aptly-titled "World of Sh*t" sound outright violent. Elsewhere, tracks such as "Transcend to Wet" transport the record into new spaces—displaying the band in a completely different light. Ebbs and flows of Harsh Noise collide with elements of Electronic music making it clear that CANDY is a beast of its own. Speaking directly to their incorporation of Electronic elements in Heaven Is Here, it's not so much that CANDY insists on progression, but that they will not accept regression.
Heaven Is Here proves to be a record where the songs feel like a merciful reprieve from the screeching interludes; a masterful almanac of Noise welded together by the unpredictable ways that we hear and re-produce the music we love in the era of unending dopamine hits and virulent technological doom. Heaven Is Here, but Hell is on your turntable. Heaven Is Here was fully produced by CANDY's own Michael Quick along with esteemed studio engineer, producer, and musician Arthur Rizk (POWER TRIP, Glitterer, Pissed Jeans.) Along with Heaven Is Here's announcement, Relapse shared lead-off single, "Human Condition Above Human Opinion," accompanied by a digitally-rendered video co-drected by Michael Quick & Nikita Gorshkov. The album is now available for pre-order in multiple CD, vinyl, and cassette packages diretcly from Relapse Records. CANDY's Heaven Is Here is out 6/24 on Relapse Records.
