DOCO arrives with a timeless banger, "Candle Flame." This is more than a seasonal soundtrack, a mood, a feeling, a delicate dance between warmth and edginess. Mixing the warm comfort of indie pop with a disco and theatrical pop twist, the track ignites something that's slow-burning yet impossible to ignore. "Candle Flame" makes it clear that it has charm to spare, easy on the ears, but not afraid to shake things up. The melody feels approachable, the type of thing you could envision spinning at a rooftop hang or cruising around with the windows down.
However, what truly elevates this song is DOCO's clever application of vocal layering. It gives an opulent, almost otherworldly texture that propels the track into artier territory than the usual pop fare. It's that combination of indie-minded progressivism and electronic undercurrents that makes "Candle Flame" feel fresh, even as it draws from recognizable emotions. While plenty of summer tracks in dance music race after high-energy drops or party-starting hooks, DOCO goes for something of a less time-stamped nature. "Candle Flame" shines. It's that self-assured stoicism that makes it timeless, the sort of song that becomes a favorite one day and won't leave your playlist.
It's also an effortlessly fluid production, the rhythm zigs and zags like sunstruck waves, and electronic accents glimmer rather than overwhelming the song's organic warmth. You can just sense that this is intentional. There's a sense of care applied to each beat, each synth pad, each layer of vocals. It treads that boundary between intimate and sprawling fits for personal moments, but poised to blow up a dance floor with subtle forces. On "Candle Flame," DOCO shows that you don't have to scream to be heard. The gentlest of songs, you know, are often the strongest. And as it shimmers its way through playlists all summer, there's no question that it will be leaving behind a metaphorical glow.
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