White Dove – The Hoss The Candle (First release from RSRCH + DVLP label)
Neo-Folk. (Folk Americana? There’s a country element here, in the guitar work.) L.A.-based trio previously known as Monster (name changed to mark the evolution of their sound). Drums, bass, guitar. Female vox (like Josephine Foster but less operatic). Pensive. Songs have a certain sameness, maybe because the vocalist seems to have the same mood each time. No FCCS detected. –eme o.
*1. [2:49] Starts slow, then alternates between slow and mid. Kind of an Edie Brickell vibe here.
2. [2:49] Mid. Vox sound almost out of tune (or out of keeping) with the jangly guitar. Instrumental sections sound a bit spaghetti western.
3. [3:10] Slow. Lyrics stand out a bit here, “Come on in to Hell. There’s so much to do in Hell.” But more depressed than doomy.
4. [4:23] Cheerful music, semi-creepy “lalala-ing”. The lyrics might stomp on your self esteem—“Where’d you gone to? Where’d you begin? And you have nothing left of your own. You don’t have a home.” (Come to think of it, the lalala-ers might be making fun of you.)
5. [3:42] Mid. Rainy morning music.
*6. [3:02] Mandolin adds to the country feel. Theremin(?) in the background. (They listened to a lot of the Beach Boys, the Byrds, etc. before making this album and I think that shows here.)
7. [3:35] Slow to mid. Buzzy electric guitar makes a background appearance.
8. [4:40] Features vox in a higher register, ethereal alternating with her normal tone. High and slow vs mid and low. (Mid and low wins.)
9. [2:33] 60s/70s rock influence apparent here.”You don’t really know the sound.”
*10. [3:54] Carnival-esque to start. Then alternates between folk, rock, western.
11. [3:02] More slow vocals, more western guitar, more 60s influence. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)