Diary of a Candle＜限定盤/Colored Vinyl＞

Faten Kanaans music has a transporting quality that is hard to define. The manual repetition of her approach — performing looped keyboard parts entirely by hand — lends her electronic compositions a human feel, as does her choice of organic-leaning sounds and tones. But there is always something otherworldly about them, an abstraction that suggests a natural world shimmering just out of reach. Diary of a Candle, Kanaans sixth album and third for U.K. indie Fire Records, may be her most enigmatic release yet. Its mystique is undeniable -- each piece unfolds like a chapter in a dark fairytale that goes nowhere and everywhere. Tracks like "Afternoon" and "Celadon" have a curious, questing nature, though its unclear whether or not their journeys extend beyond the mind. The springlike "Acorns" is another highlight that emphasizes Kanaans penchant for melding organic and synthetic sounds to brilliant effect. Her references are both eclectic and specific, nodding to Hiroshi Yoshimuras new age classic Music for Nine Post Cards, as well as Baroque and early music, East-Asian folklore, and modern minimalism. As on all her albums, theres also an eerie underpinning of classic 70s and 80s soundtracks, particularly of the horror ilk. Somehow, Diary of a Candle collates these influences and creates its own genre, one Kanaan has hinted at before but never unified so completely. Within its boundaries, the album manages to thread the needle between melancholy and mirth, evoking romance, fantasy, mystery, and nature. Whats even more remarkable is how effortlessly it all comes together. Its Kanaans most cohesive set to date and one of her most enchanting. ~ Timothy Monger