Let’s go back 34 years. To 1990. That year Katiho releases the tape compilation “Heol Daou” (Katiho 02), one of the most important and influential French indiepop cassettes.
On this tape we find a little known band called Candle with the song “She Wants”. The band is in good company as great bands like White Town, Die Blinzelbeeren, Non-Stop Kazoo Organization and more are in the tape.
2 years later, in 1992, the band releases “Beginning Blue”, a CD EP. It comes out on Lithium Records (LICD 04). This Parisian label would become known for releasing Dominique A or Diablogum among others. The EP has four tracks, “No Eyes”, “Beginning Blue”, “Burning Blind” and “Harmony”. They are recorded at Studio de la Madeleine and then mixed at Studio Bastille, both in Paris.
The engineer on the record was Stéphane Calsson while the artwork is credited to Cambell Tollerton. We also get two names, Isabelle and Julien. They are credited for all the songs and instruments. It is Isabelle Andrès and Julien Retaillaud. Both would later be in the band Carmine.
18 years later, in 2020, the band release “Beginning Blue Uncut”. This CDR mini-album includes more songs than the EP. Here we find “No Eyes”, “Burning Blind”, “Tears of Blood”, “Never Thought”, “3 Weeks in a Day”, “See Me Smile”, “Then a Hole” and “She Wants”.
I suppose this release coincided with the band appearing on Bandcamp, in Julian’s Bandcamp.
Other than these releases I notice some more listed on Discogs on the compilation section. But I feel these are wrong. They have to be by another band called Candle.
There is one more thing. There is a live gig on Bandcamp. It dates from May 14, 1992 and was live at La Grande Bouveche in Orsay. This time the band played “Harmony”, “Empty Head”, “Mary, Mary So Contrary”, “No Name”, “Then a Hole”, “Burning Blind”, “Beginning Blue”, “Seaweed Alice” and “No Eyes”. Here we see a photo of a 4-piece band. On Discogs they appear as a duo. What was right?
It seems the project evolved into Carmine afterwards. But that’s another story. Would love to know more about Candle. How long did the band last? Why weren’t there more releases? Was it a duo or a band? Did they play outside of Paris? Who remembers them?
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