Urlaubshits

Deep Gems is Glass Candy’s latest release on Italians Do It Better, and it may be advertised as a “collection of singles, b-sides, and rarities”, but it is no less essential than it’s predecessor Beatbox. If anything, Deep Gems feels like a more cohesive album than Beatbox.

The first thing that will probably strike you about Deep Gems is its much more stripped down approach. “Poison Or Remedy” is essentially an alternate version of Beatbox’s “Beatific”, which substitutes the rumbling bass pedals and bouncy tempo for something slower and more restrained, with Ida No’s vocals given more prominence in the mix. This is something that seems to be a feature of the album as a whole; whilst in Beatbox Ida’s vocals were often in the hazy distance, in tracks like “Feeling Without Touching” and “Stars & Houses” the vocals have a clarity that is almost unprecedented in an Italians Do It Better release, especially when compared to the recent Nite Jewel 12″.

This album also shows a side to Glass Candy that has more in common with producer Johnny Jewel’s other band Chromatics. Whilst Beatbox lived up to its name as a 70s disco inspired dance record, Deep Gems is much more of a headphone listener. “Soft Boundaries” for instance is a beatless, half sung, half spoken that often threatens to break out a kick drum, but is all the more successful for its restraint. Album closer, “Silver Fountain”, a bossa nova tinged cosmic slow jam which is quite unlike anything Glass Candy have done before. My favourite though has to be “Stars & Houses”, a haunting song with a shuffling rhythm which is simply about “the brilliance of white light”. Stunning.

MP3:> Glass Candy - Stars & Houses

Deep Gems is out now on Italians Do It Better

Buy on CD direct from the IDIB Store

Buy MP3s from Boomkat