CocoRosie
– Heartache City (Lost Girl Records)
CD / DL
Out
Now
8.5
/ 10
Sister
duo release their sixth album.
If
Whatever Happened To Baby Jane were made into an album, it might just sound
like this. Bette Davis and Joan Crawford
would be played by Bianca and Sierra Casady and sound completely bonkers,
unhinged and often pure genius.
Currently
based in Brooktown in France, the sisters were born in Iowa (Sierra) and Hawaii
(Bianca) and nicknamed Coco and Rosie by their Mother. In 1998 they moved their separate ways with
Sierra moving to Paris two years later.
In 2003 they reunited and started making music together.
Often
known as ‘freak folk’ their sound is hard to pinpoint incorporating pop, jazz,
opera and electronica amongst other things.
They use conventional recording methods and often use old children’s
toys and acoustic instruments in their songs.
The
title track is a six-minute affair, slowly moving along with frequently spoken
vocals (commonplace on the album) and gentle pianos which create an atmospheric
dream piece. Lyrically the songs are
interesting to say the least – often using words which would appear to be
randomly recited making the most intriguing of sounds and creating beautiful
poetry.
The
Tower Of Pisa sounds like a musical box playing in the background whilst Lost
Girls tells us to ‘lift up our skirts, and Tim & Tina has brilliant if not
slightly unnerving samples of the words ‘like butterflies’. There’s a deep
South sort of feel to the album too, with poetic bursts and completely
unpredictable sounds along the way, and it is this that is where the album
strengths lie.
Nothing
can be foretold, nothing can be accused of being plagiaristic, and nothing could
really be replicated. Lucky Clover
glides along wistfully with a gentle skiffle beat, and album closer No One
Knows lends more to folksy roots than to anything else as slight hints of
gospel also threaten to break through.
To
say they broke the mould when the Casady sisters came along would be an
understatement, and if alternative/weird is your thing then Heartache City is a
must listen album.
Links
CocoRosie website
CocoRosie on Twitter
CocoRosie on Facebook
Published on Louder Than War 9/12/15 - here
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