Candy Claws

Today, Candy Claws unveil “Distortion Spear,” their first new music in a decade. The track appears on a bonus CD that accompanies the 10th anniversary vinyl reissue of their beloved album, Ceres & Calypso In The Deep Time, out this Friday on Twosyllable Records. Featuring the original Ceres & Calypso lineup of Ryan Hover, K Hover, and Hank Bertholf, “Distortion Spear” crashes in with whirling synths before exploding into a reverb drenched euphoria: “Feel the rising mountain grow // Hear the minds of animals,” the band sings, “Follow streams deep in the vale // Leave the future far behind.” 

Of “Distortion Spear,” Ryan explains: “After spending most of the decade on opposite coasts (K and I in New York and Hank in Washington) we reunited at our friend Riley’s wedding in Portland last summer of. It was great and surreal to hang out again, and we had the idea of making a new song for the 10th anniversary of Ceres & Calypso. Back home on our respective coasts, we collaborated long-distance during the following winter. Lyrically, it’s about how a decade can simultaneously feel like a lifetime and no time at all. Nature, memory, anticipation.”

When Candy Claws released their third and ultimately final album Ceres & Calypso In The Deep Time in June of 2013, they couldn’t have known the ripple effects that would ensue. The record sparked an immediate cult following, with huge, savage shoegaze guitars and the prettiest melodies this side of Paul McCartney’s daydreams. Returning to it once more, it’s a record of startling beauty and unfathomable strangeness. 10 years on, Ceres & Calypso In The Deep Time is arguably more popular than ever.  It’s time to soak up the blissful, other-wordly wonder of this titanic dream pop statement all over again. 

A lot has happened since Candy Claws released Ceres & Calypso In The Deep Time. Namely, the band came to a natural end, with Bertholf focusing on outside projects while Ryan and K have led Sound Of Ceres to acclaim. Yet, Candy Claws’ legacy remains with them — from online wormholes of Ceres & Calypso followers, to simple requests at the merch desk for another pressing. With prices surging online for ultra-collectible original editions, the band were happy to comply. 

Candy Claws are now split between the East and West coast, their mutual roots in Fort Collins now long since paved over. But Ceres & Calypso In The Deep Time remains — a kind of haunting, audio equivalent to a Studio Ghibli animation, akin to emerging from a dream and trying to piece together what your mind just glimpsed. Listening to the record once more, Ryan Hover is left with no regrets. “If it had all just gone into the ether, and been forgotten about, then we might have some regrets. But for some reason, there was just some spark on this one that people are still connecting with. It still feels like a really exciting thing to dive into.”