Mourning Candle – Sycophants

Between retro synths and dark rituals: Sycophants reviewed

Sycophants cata­pults me straight into a dark synth cos­mos that is any­thing but luke­warm. From the very first listen, I can feel that unmis­tak­ably catchy Halloween vibe cre­ated by Mourning Candle, an elec­tron­ic dark wave pro­ject from the USA. ‘Sycophants’ is Mourning Candle's song and my first encounter with the pro­ject. Everything I hear here is based solely on this track – and yet it leaves a last­ing impres­sion. The syn­thes­izers and retro 80s sounds dom­in­ate the sound­scape and give the song an unmis­tak­able identity.

What strikes me in par­tic­u­lar is that I feel like I've been in touch with sing­er Leslie Benson forever. Our paths first crossed with her former band, "The Sweetest Condition". For me, it's clear: her vocals fit per­fectly into this mix of synth pop and dark wave and give ‘Sycophants’ a vocal pres­ence that rounds off the over­all picture.

The song also sticks in my head because of its lyr­ics: after just a few lines, the line "Take my hand, we'll dance around the syco­phants" floats between the beats – a mix­ture of rebel­lion and lib­er­a­tion from con­form­ist fol­low­ers. I find the lyr­ics excit­ing because they move between dark ritu­al and a cer­tain long­ing for freedom.

I imme­di­ately liked the hand­made music video for ‘Sycophants’ – I really appre­ci­ate such per­son­al DIY pro­duc­tions. The only down­side for me are the clichéd ‘ritu­al’ props, which look a bit like they came from a cheap Halloween shop. Without this kitsch, I think the video would have been even more coher­ent. Nevertheless, for me, the charm of the self-pro­duc­tion out­weighs this.

Listen to "Mourning Candle – Sycophants" on Spotify

Listen to "Mourning Candle – Sycophants" on Bandcamp

Lyrics of "Mourning Candle – Sycophants"

You’re so dangerous.
You’re so dangerous.
You’re so dangerous.
We put it to bed,
and the mys­tery is dead.

I find silence
so peaceful.
No more wast­ing away.

In this moment,
just be still.
Let it wash
over me.

And you’ll see…
it clearly.
Who’s with me?!
Take my hand, we’ll
dance around the sycophants!

Sick, sick
Sycophants

Sick, sick
Sick
Sick
Sycophants

Sick, sick
Sycophants

Take my hand, we’ll
dance around the sycophants.

Between bod­ies,
blank faces,
Feel time slip­ping away.

This dark ritual
of passage–
the fear's taken away.

My body–
Release me.
Move freely.

Take my hand, we'll
dance around the sycophants.

Flesh to flesh.
Bone to Bone.
Feel me breathe.
Desire unknown.

Heart to heart.
Pulse like stone.
Follow me…
You're not alone!