Ian McCulloch- Candleland (1989) MP3 & FLAC

"I heard the footsteps in the street. I saw the lights on the flickering wall. I moved my lips but I couldn't speak, choked on the wonder of it all."

In the context of the Echo & The Bunnymen oeuvre, Candleland functions as little more than a footnote, but it deserves so much better. Ian McCulloch's first release after the dissolution of the original incarnation of The Bunnymen is a dark, shimmering meditation on death and its aftermath (specifically the then-recent deaths of his father as well as Bunnymen drummer Pete DeFreitas), and for those dissatisfied with the commercial turn The Bunnymen took on their self-titled final LP, it might sound like a more worthy successor to the masterful Ocean Rain. While Candleland is not a radical departure from McCulloch's work with his previous band, he does walk down some new paths here, and his lyrics and vocals are (arguably) among the best of his career. If that isn't enough, the ethereal voice of Elisabeth Fraser (Cocteau Twins) pops up on the title track as well. This is long out of print and a hard one to find in lossless.

Candleland
 1. The Flickering Wall  (3:35)
 2. The White Hotel  (3:15)
 3. Proud to Fall  (3:57)
 4. The Cape  (4:09)
 5. Candleland  (3:18)
 6. Horse's Head  (4:47)
 7. Faith and Healing  (4:36)
 8. I Know You Well  (4:06)
 9. In Bloom  (5:02)
10. Start Again  (5:00)

MU: Lossy (MP3@320)

MU: Lossless (FLAC)