Biography
California's Sugar Candy Mountain helped ignite a resurgence of neo-psychedelic pop in the early 2010s by combining bright vintage textures with elaborate, refined arrangements. Their initial output moved between raw, minimal experiments and exuberant Tropicália textures, as heard on 2013's Mystic Hits, before the group adopted a more luminous, keyboard-centered strain of psych-pop on 2018's Do Right. That trajectory extended into their wide-ranging fifth album, Impression, issued in 2021.
The project originated in 2010 when Oakland musician Will Halsey began it strictly as a studio venture. His ongoing work with Ash Reiter quickly established a singular style that merged classic 1960s West Coast psychedelia with pastoral folk elements while nodding to experimental pop figures such as Brazil's Os Mutantes, the Flaming Lips, and Brian Wilson. The self-titled 2011 debut drew primarily from Halsey's earliest, lower-fidelity sessions. By the arrival of 2013's Mystic Hits, Sugar Candy Mountain had matured into a complete performing unit still guided by Halsey and Reiter. The record also deepened their Brazilian connections, with portions tracked in São Paulo. They reunited with Papercuts frontman Jason Quever to cut the follow-up, 666, which PIAPTK Records released in summer 2016. Teaming once more with Quever, the band pursued a contemporary direction on 2018's Do Right by weaving vivid synthesizers through their acoustic base. After issuing the dreamy standalone single "In My Own World" in 2019, the members developed much of their next album during an extended 2020 camping retreat undertaken to avoid the destructive wildfires then consuming their home state. When Impression appeared in 2021, it folded in substantial 1970s grooves and Krautrock touches alongside the group's already diverse palette.
The project originated in 2010 when Oakland musician Will Halsey began it strictly as a studio venture. His ongoing work with Ash Reiter quickly established a singular style that merged classic 1960s West Coast psychedelia with pastoral folk elements while nodding to experimental pop figures such as Brazil's Os Mutantes, the Flaming Lips, and Brian Wilson. The self-titled 2011 debut drew primarily from Halsey's earliest, lower-fidelity sessions. By the arrival of 2013's Mystic Hits, Sugar Candy Mountain had matured into a complete performing unit still guided by Halsey and Reiter. The record also deepened their Brazilian connections, with portions tracked in São Paulo. They reunited with Papercuts frontman Jason Quever to cut the follow-up, 666, which PIAPTK Records released in summer 2016. Teaming once more with Quever, the band pursued a contemporary direction on 2018's Do Right by weaving vivid synthesizers through their acoustic base. After issuing the dreamy standalone single "In My Own World" in 2019, the members developed much of their next album during an extended 2020 camping retreat undertaken to avoid the destructive wildfires then consuming their home state. When Impression appeared in 2021, it folded in substantial 1970s grooves and Krautrock touches alongside the group's already diverse palette.
Albums
Singles
Live
