JUNO-nominated artist Kandle Osborne returns today with news of a special series of live videos to be released each Thursday over the next five weeks dubbed Set The Fire Live at Hipposonic. Featuring select tracks from this summer’s lauded new album, the series represents the closest thing to a live show Kandle has staged in the past two years. Rounding up her Set The Fire friends and family for the first time ever — Kendel Carson (Alan Doyle), Debra-Jean Creelman (Mother Mother), Louise Burns (Lillix, Gold & Youth), and even father Neil Osborne (54-40) hopping on bass for a couple of tracks — these performances are stripped down with no tracks or tricks. First up is the soul-stirring ballad “Sweet Boy.”
Watch / Share: “Sweet Boy (Live at Hipposonic)“
Director and editor Jeff Mitchell says, “Kandle’s latest album, Set The Fire, pays homage sonically to many of the great classic singers and styles that have been fundamental inspirations for her. I wanted to lean into that feeling of a nostalgic, bygone era with the visual language. Bare bulbs, golden hues, and vintage cinema glass were all ingredients of the feeling I was trying to cultivate. I really wanted the viewer to feel like they were in the room for the session and eschewed the traditional solidity of sliders, stabilizers and tripods for a more free-roaming, handheld style. The session was shot on 2X anamorphic lenses, and I extended the already wide image area even further to give the illusion of being truly amongst and surrounded by the musicians in their natural habitat.”
Kandle has used the past year to set speakers and airwaves ablaze. The prolific, independent artist strengthened her production skills, launched her own company, and released an array of music in 2020, including Stick Around and Find Out, the Birds EP, and this year’s impassioned new project, Set The Fire. On the album, sparkling piano, distorted guitars, dynamic horns and doo-wop backups make you (almost) forget you’re deep diving into her darkest secrets. Tales of toxicity, manipulation and heartbreak are delivered with stark, striking honesty over a captivating array of sonic influences.
The album was previewed with an array of songs buzzing with a retro feel and dark, no holds barred songwriting. “When It Hurts,” sonically reminiscent of the Shangri-Las grooving in an episode of Twin Peaks, was Set The Fire’s fifth single. It followed “No Good,” a track that launched Garden Sessions — an open-air series with Kandle, Debra-Jean Creelman and Kendel Carson performing acoustic renditions of Set The Fire’s standout tunes. In April, Kandle released “Misty Morning.” Before that, she shared “Honey Trap” — a sweet-but-fierce tune about breaking free from a sticky power struggle. Kandle was longlist nominated for a 2021 Prism Prize for Set The Fire’s first single, “Lock and Load,” (her second nomination for the award following “Not Up To Me“). The song received an earlier nod for a Canadian Independent Video Award in 2020. Learn more about Kandle below, and stay tuned for more as Kandle turns up the heat this fall and beyond.
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