There are positives. The music on the title track, Candles and David Cassidy is sunlit and uplifting, with soft focus electric guitars, twinkling piano but, like almost all his recent work, overlong. He covers David Cassidy's perky C'mon Get Happy, which is mercifully short. This is followed by his third recorded cover of ACDC's Rock n Roll Singer. Musically it's not bad, but Kozelek bawls most of the lyrics before holding a note for an uncomfortable 40 seconds. Perhaps this is Sun Kil Moon covering Mark Kozelek's cover of the ACDC song?
But any hope the album has of succeeding is ruined by, not what Kozelek sings but how he sings it. It's all delivered in the bored-sounding speak/sing style he has patented of late. That's not to mention his blood-curdling, demonic growling on Linda Blair.
Who on earth is going to discover Mark Kozelek/Sun Kil Moon through an album like this?? There's no end to this, with another new album due out next March.
