The Pop Corporation

Candie Payne’s ‘I Wish I Could Have Loved You More’ was one of the best albums of the Noughties, melding pop with ace ’60s girl group pop and noirish spy flick moodiness. These days, Candie is making art of a different stripe, but we’ve kept playing tracks like ‘All I Need To Hear’ and the LP’s title track on rotation from our box of 45s next to our record player.

And there’s good news for those that loved the album the first time around.

There was a boom in ’60s inflected pop back then, most notably with Amy Winehouse. However, where Amy and her copycats were squarely aiming at a more R&B version of the ’60s, Payne’s music was a little darker, a little more bruised and melancholic, marrying the swoons and melodrama with some huge, euphoric choruses.

It really is a hidden gem of the period which should have sold a bazillion copies all things being fair.

We all know that a lot of retro-pop can sound like tame facsimiles of the real stuff, but Candie’s music had a clear love of the source material and channelled it into something fresher and a little more modern – in the grooves, there’s touches of the stuff we all love about Broadcast, Stereolab and Portishead, as well as pricey record collector gems hidden away on Discogs.

The album got lost in cloudy midsts of the internet and record shelves, but now, you can revisit the album as has been re-released on streaming platforms. Now, there’ll be some extra bits too, with live versions and demos and bonus tracks and all that cool stuff! There’s loads to get your teeth into, whether you’re an existing fan or just about to become obsessive.

Will there be a reissue on vinyl and physical formats? You’d hope so! Either way, in the meantime, do go listen to the album. In a previous incantation (hello to the 5 Electric Roulette readers that worked out we’re over here now) where we dubbed her music as Pop Noir, get involved. It’s a sensational album and well worth your time.