Candleland

Released after his split with Echo and the Bunnymen and, in a terrible coincidence, appearing soon after Pete de Freitas’s fatal accident, Candleland found Ian McCulloch splitting the difference between the sound and mood he’d long been known for and finding his own path forward. Candleland ultimately can’t quite escape Echo’s long shadow but in its own right it feels like the steady late 80s ‘alternative’ as such an effort it is, with Gentle Giant stalwart Ray Shulman his primary collaborator throughout on songs like “Proud to Fall” and the title track.