New album, new sound for Candlebox

The thing to know about the Candlebox show Saturday at the Hard Rock Live in Biloxi is that it isn’t your father’s Candlebox.

Although the band released its first album in 1993, in many ways, this is not that band. Sure, Candlebox stills plays the hits like “Far Behind” and “You,” both of which were rock radio staples when rock radio was the premiere format of music in the ’90s.

But this is Candlebox 2.0

Last man standing

Gone are original members Peter Klett and Scott Mercado. In are Seattle drummer Dave Krusen and guitarists Mike Leslie and Brian Quinn. Bassist Adam Kury has been playing with original member Kevin Martin since 2007.

But Martin harbors no ill will toward his former bandmates.

“I didn’t want to be in a band with people that didn’t want to be there,” Martin said in an interview with the Sun Herald. “So I told Pete and Scott to stay home and do the things they wanted to do, and I would keep this thing going. I think the band is better than it has ever been.”

Gone also are the days of major labels and the headaches that came with them. Since Martin and his band parted ways with Warner Bros. (Maverick) in the early 2000s, Candlebox has released three albums as independent artists.

New album, new sound

The band’s latest effort, “Disappearing in Airports” was released in April.

“The older I get and the more I do this as an independent thing, I realize that I don’t think we worked well under pressure as a band — the ‘Lucy’ record was so difficult for us because Maverick was pushing so hard for us to get the second record out,” Martin said. “We wrote the first record over about two years, so I’ve noticed we write our best material when we take our time.”

One listen to “Disappearing,” and it is evident that it is not the same old Candlebox. It’s an alternative rock outing that has more in common with Radiohead than “Far Behind.”

‘Skin in the game’

It was also paid for in part by the fans through crowd funding.

“The best thing about it is the fans help you create the record because it’s their money that you are using to make the record,” Martin said. “They feel a lot more connected to you as an artist if they feel they have a little bit of skin in the game and it keeps you from carrying that record label debt and I don’t want to carry that anymore.”

“Disappearing” is a diverse collection of songs, from the big sing-song chorus of “Vextatious,” to the four-on-the-floor thump of the album’s next single “Supernova.”

“I think it’s the best record we’ve ever made,” Martin said. “I’m much happier with the chorus structure of the songs — I’ve always felt the choruses on our songs lacked that wall of sound that we accomplished on our first album.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "New album, new sound for Candlebox."