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Album by one of the fundamental groups of dark gothic and surroundings, and together with the previous "Hyaena," it shows openness towards more melodic and more digestible compositions for those who do not understand or cannot stomach the group's earlier, much more punk, dark, and rough works.
Janet the witch (I quote Bob Smith) offers us this "tin box"... are there candies inside? If you have no prejudices, start unwrapping the individual songs/bonbons because they have been packed with care and taste. "Candyman" is a scorching rock track with a sustained rhythm; Siouxsie seems like the Savonarola who, with a full-bodied voice, metaphorically denounces the dealers and warns the younger ones (the children's choirs are not accidental). "The Sweetest Chill" is a slow track with a seductive pace where the guitar seems to climb on bass and piano, double voices, and siren echoes. The use of string instruments creates a very refined "chamber music" effect.
"This Unrest" another slow-moving but very dark track that manages to create a sense of unease and tension. The interplay of bass and drums is accompanied by the piano and eerie singing until it fades into whispers. The jolt comes with "Cities in Dust," the leading single. The rhythm is a mix of drums and oriental percussion (gong, tubular bells, etc.), a signature of the great Budgie. One of the most cultured lyrics, dedicated to Pompeii: Siouxsie was deeply affected during her visit to the excavations, and the track is lively because it captures the last moments of daily life before "your city, friend, lies in the dust." "Cannons" is another proof of narrative skill. Drums and acoustic guitars evoke the frantic race of populations fleeing on their carts to take shelter from the cannon fire. A little folk and a little anguished nursery rhyme with interlude of gentle singing, as a truce during the escape, waiting for the rain to sabotage the gunpowder. "Party's Fall": the atmosphere is light, festive, the continuous changes, and the lyrics seem like a minuet in a modern key with free associations to "Belladonna" and Venetian Baroque...
"92°" one of the best tracks on the album inspired by a news event. Following the announcer's warning about the abnormal rise in temperature comes a series of drum rolls that, along with single guitar notes and a steady but haunting singing, build up. Siouxsie describes the devastating effects of the heatwave in the almost obsessive chorus, while the hypnotic guitar riff shifts to rarefied arpeggios that convey the idea of blurred and flickering images on the horizon. We reach the last candy... the richest one! "Land's End": the drums are played in a circular manner, chasing their own beats, bass and guitars are somewhat dreamy while the voice is enchanting and melancholic. In the pre-chorus, the rhythm changes and creates anticipation with cadenced drums and marimba while the story foresees the vertigo. From here, there is a crescendo of guitars with a simil-country pace, a fluid run until you manage to catch up with Siouxsie, and you return with her to the cadenced pre-chorus.
Sibylline and tempting, the lady in black begins to propose the leap off the cliff where "the land ends and the tale begins...".
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Candyman (03:43)
Sickly sweet, his poison seeks
For the young ones who don’t understand
The danger in his hands
With a jaundiced wink see his cunning slink
Oh trust in me my pretty one
Come walk with me my helpless one
Candyman
Syrup lies upon your tongue
Ge latine saliva spills
The flash of a guillotine a smile
Candyman - oh candyman
No pity for him, their misery screams
Unspeakable things
A cool missile, yes it’s in his smile
With open arms to welcome you
Beware the masked pretender
He always lies, this candyman
Those lips conspire in treachery
To strike in cloak and dagger, see!
Candyman - oh candyman
And all the children, he warns ``don’t tell,’’
Those threats are sold
With their guilt and shame they think they’re to blane
For candyman - oh candyman
02 The Sweetest Chill (04:07)
Hearing you -- in my sleep
Feeling you -- your cadence seeps
Whispering in flashback -- the spectres of your memories
Fall in glistening showers -- such a tender descent
Intones this haunting lament
The sweetest chill
Fearing you -- but calling your name
Icy breath -- encases my skin
Fingers like a fountain of needles
Shiver along my spine
And rain down so divine
The sweetest chill
A drowning so sublime -- spins in a heavenly climb
Calling you -- tears thaw my sleep
Wanting you -- this hoary web is weaved
From this strange confusion
Grows a perverse communication
It enthralls me and coils me around
The sweetest chill
Enchantment ebbs and whirls -- the sweetest chill
Enchantment ebbs and whirls -- oh the thrill
The sweetest chill
04 Cities in Dust (03:53)
Water was running, children were running
You were running out of time
Under the mountain, a golden fountain
Were you praying at the Lares' shrine?
But oh your city lies in dust, my friend
We found you hiding -- we found you lying
Choking on the dirt and sand
Your former glories and all the stories
Dragged and washed with eager hands
But oh your city lies in dust, my friend
Hot and burning -- in your nostrils
Pouring down your gaping mouth
Your molten bodies -- blanket of cinders
Caught in the throes...
And oh your city lies in dust
05 Cannons (03:15)
Troubled weather's on its way
Tempests threaten us today
There's no respite, from long dark nights
Just the fantasy of spring
From the hailstones of summer
To a scorching winter land
A frozen death sleep, then this heat
Beats down on this bucked land
Flames lick closer to the core
From city limits fireball
And in a headless chicken run
Race red and screaming fire engines
The the cannons came
'Neath the brooding sky
Beneath its baleful eye
The cannon shot, the cannon crack
Disturbing night dreams
People fled in droves
To the lakes and to the shores
Left behind a near ghost town
Save the life of the cannons resounding
Still there was no rain
Once more in the line of fire
Hovers the preying sky
The cannons aim jabs at the eye
Heralding the rain .....
06 Party's Fall (04:57)
Your parties fall around you
Another night beckons to you
Your parties fall around you
Another night beckons to you
Shadows loom as you resist the gloom
Faded hues issue forth and bloom
A bed of leaves for a lover
Awake with a kiss and rise asunder
And when the party's over
You retreat in a realm of slumber
In your mind, crystal lights rebound
Wheels spin round and you hear the sound
Of Autumn's call at party's fall
Through rose-tinted glass you still remember
The gladness, not sadness, only laughter
In your mind, vicious lights rebound
Wheels spin round and you hear the sound
Of Autumn's call at party's fall
The smile in the mirror grows weaker
The laughter you heard is growing fainter
Your parties fall around you
The night forgets to rouse you
Your party's fall astounds you
An aura of sadness abounds you
Glad rags sigh
Maybe you're alone inside, don't hide
Hurting all the time, hurting deep inside, don't cry
My happiness depends on knowing this friend is never alone
On your own
A party on our own
We'll have a party on our own inside
No sighs
08 Lands End (06:07)
Come take this hand at twilight's door
I'll meet you there, we'll share the moonlit floor
Through the driving rain, colours run in veins
Ozone fills the air, two figures disappear
Come let's take flight, let's quit this scene tonight
Whilst they sleep on endless, in their wrecked designs
Sleep on endless in your wrecked designs
Moths touched by flame repeat their fatal game
Forever and eternally, the cliffs around the crashing sea
Unsolved and endless, wait for me
Undulating far below, where lucid waters flow
Their faces seem to know...
Where the land falls to an end
This hidden tale begins
Take a walk with me, down by the sea
Take a walk with me
Down by the sea
10 An Execution (03:50)
This is what she saw .......
The unsuspecting horse was held fast to the ground
Whilst some soldiers slit open its belly
The guilty gypsy was shoved inside the horse's belly
With only his head protruding from the dying
Beast, another soldier, then sewed up the wound
With the culprit inside, condemned to die, along
With the putrifying animal, screaming.
11 Lullaby (03:34)
The lunacy will leave the day
Luminous in flight
As the moon spits out
In jagged beams another night
Wrap around this brilliant veil
Tranquil and unbroken
As you spiral down
A world of clay and taut convulsion
The dream swan spins
And cartwheel turns
Down deep within your violet side
The sun begins to rise
Skaing down its morining swords to thaw your frozen eyes
The dream swan spins
And so conceal the heart that aches and yearns
Hush awhile
Sleepless child
I'll be watching over you
12 Umbrella (04:11)
Away from the dying rain, far away
From the pain washed drains
Under the darkening skies
Now under protecting lines
Beneath these unloved crimes
Relief is a gentle sigh
Dissolve these eyes so I may cry
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