Premiere: Meet Candy and his dreamy new single, Apartment In The City

Header photo by Briana Davis.

After splitting ways with Lunatics on Pogosticks and Amyl and the Sniffers, Melbourne's Calum Newton is now aiming to turn heads on a solo level. Over the past few years, Newton has developed an underground following with a trilogy of mixtapes for Bandcamp cassette label Z Tapes, each building on this dreamy indie sound that sits somewhere in between shoegaze and lo-fi pop. Now, he's gearing up for the release of his debut album Under the Weather, launching the record with its first single Apartment In The City. Apartment In The City further solidifies this sound, acquainting us with everything Candy is hoping to plate up with his debut album and in general, getting us damn excited for the release later this year.

With the single out now and a pair of Melbourne shows in the next few weeks (including the Apartment In The City single launch on March 29 – more details below), we got to know Newton and his Candy project a little better. Check it out with the single premiere below.

Tell us about yourself?

I’m a 5’ 5” strawberry blonde boy who spends most of his time either pushing trolleys at Coles or sitting at my computer writing little sad pop songs. I don’t like to take my shoes off, I occasionally flare up with tinea versicolor, and I once made Paul Kelly tea (with milk, no sugar).

What’s the vibe music-wise?

Shoegaze but without the distortion or the whimsical vocals. Dream pop but without the haze. Emo without the black fingernails and red wine.

What are your production and writing processes like?

I usually wake up, have a shower, make some plunger coffee and sit at my desk staring at my computer for most of the day trying to think of what to whine about next. Everything is DI besides the drums which are just the stock standard samples given with Logic 9.

Can you tell us about your new single, Apartment in the City?

Apartment in the City stems from a friend of mine who has this romanticised notion of getting lost in the city and cutting all ties to those around you while still expecting those people to be waiting for you when you return. It’s kind of like they want to focus on reaching the horizon while still being able to look back over their shoulder and have their friends/family/lovers smiling and waving.

What have you got in store for us in 2018?

I’m launching the single at the Gaso Upstairs on the 29th of March with Culte and Tram Cops. So far all the shows I’ve done have been me doing karaoke, but for this one, I’ve gotten a band together. It features members of Jarrow, Soft Corporate and Spicy Boys so should be a lot of smiles all round. More info HERE.

Also supporting GUM on the 6th of April which I’m just stoked to get a free ticket for.

Where can we find more of your music?

Whenever you hear a white, privileged boy complain on the train or else on Spotify or Bandcamp.

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