Broken Candles is the solo project of Luca Corda, formerly a player in some very noisy bands. He recorded his calm and quiet first full length, ‘Left With This Feeling’, in Lisbon, Portugal, in a barn, and released on the inimitable art tape label Cruel Nature. ‘Left With This Feeling’ begins with just under a minute of double bass played with a bow, its rumble slow and mournful over some quiet organic sounds – maybe bird song? running water? The effect is lush with a sense of space and wholesomeness. Then comes ‘Talk To Me’, vocals recorded loud but sung quietly over a restrained acoustic guitar, dark and warm. In the middle of the song is a rattling, metallic chiming sound that is a little weird in a cool creative way.
The heart of this record’s sonic palate is Corda’s voice and guitar. I think it’s mostly acoustic guitar played, but it might also be an electric guitar played clean. The playing is restrained, typically a rhythm and simple melody with sometimes a layer and a lead part over it. It’s a pretty sound, and above all it works to accompany the singing. Corda’s voice is relatively quiet in the sense that he doesn’t seem to be projecting a lot or pushing out a lot of air. It’s a restrained sound, like the guitar, and placed fairly loudly in the mix. It’s an intimate sound, someone leaning in close to open up and tell you something personal.
There are times when he hits higher notes and his voice has a little quaver that I think comes with trying to hit a high note without enough air behind it. That’s not a criticism. It sounds pretty to my ears and it’s endearing as well. It feels exposed, vulnerable, a voice that might crack, like someone who will look you in the eye, get nervous and look at their hands, then look you in the eye again because they really need to make sure you understand. It’s a vulnerable sound, but also has a quiet power to it in that being vulnerable in front of people is brave.
My favorite songs here are the slightly more rock numbers, like ‘Ancient Town’, with a little more overdriven guitar sound and tasteful drumming. These songs hint at a potential for Corda to venture into power pop and folk rock territory, like the best of The Weakerthans, with driving rhythms and hooks yet the songs no less emotionally open and vulnerable. There are a couple of weirder moments – like in the clanking and chiming on ‘Talk to Me‘ and the final minute of ‘Warm Day’ where fuzzed out guitar, scraping, and what sounds like kicking over of a spring reverb amp create a much more electric texture than most of the record – that provide a cool interruption and playfulness to the record.
Most of the time, though, it’s just Corda’s quiet guitar and voice. As fits the sound, the themes are introspective and sad, with references to some days and one days and not being able to find a way back. It has a wistful regret that comes with recalling relationships that didn’t work out and didn’t resolve but which were a long time ago and so are at a kind of troubled peace. This is the least angry record I’ve listened to in a long time, and I think it has something to do with it feeling like it’s looking back with a mature distance on things that didn’t work but which aren’t recent anymore. So that old anger ferments into a deeper sadness but also the strength to carry on – there’s a strong if-only-I-could-have-but-I-couldn’t-and-I-live-with-that kind of feeling.
Whilst it is a sad record, it’s also life affirming. I don’t exactly know why but the small nature sounds around the record’s edges, the birds and water, plus the general sense of openness in the record feed that sense of affirmation. There’s also a fairly loud ambient hiss – not quite cassette tape, but a mic amplified loudly in an open space. It places the songs within a sense of physical presence and rootedness. It makes the songs’ narrator (presumably Corda himself, as the songs have a feel of someone opening up honestly, rather than character songs) sound like he is in a physical location around other people, as opposed to a record of someone being alone and entirely in their own head.
Grief is part of life. No one gets exactly what they want or acts exactly how they later wish they’d acted during hard times, and everyone lives through loss. That sadness swells in our lives over time, but it’s okay too. We learn to grieve and to be happy in life anyway. ‘Left With This Feeling‘ narrates someone processing these kinds of experiences, being aware of their own imperfections and unfulfilled aspirations but also embracing the life they have for what it is.
Like what you see? Why not stick around and check out the other articles and interviews!
Don’t forget to follow Birthday Cake For Breakfast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Birthday Cake For Breakfast 