CocoRosie – Grey Oceans (SubPop)
4/5
By: Chalky
Back with their fourth studio album, sisters Bianca "Coco" and Sierra "Rosie" Casady have once again managed to outdo themselves in the horrendous cove art stakes. Some might say two women with fake facial hair dressed in medieval style blue felt hats is representative of their blend of experimental, quirky music. I say it’s just a bad album cover – one that I hope doesn’t put people off too much, since the music is actually pretty good.
Grey Oceans is probably CocoRosie’s most accessible album to date, combining their influences of opera, blues, hip hop and pop to create sounds that on first listen may be more accurately described as fascinating rather than instantly loveable. ‘Trinity’s Crying’ beckons you into their mysterious world with sparsely plucked strings and softly sung vocals whereas the upbeat ‘Smokey Taboo’ mixes eastern sounds with looped operatic vocals and gorgeous earthy beats.
A guest appearance from the girls’ mother, singing here in her native Cherokee on the mournful yet beautiful ‘Undertaker’, adds somewhat more of a personal touch, furthered by the childhood stories recalled on ‘Lemonade’. So as not to get too serious, there are also a good proportion of nonsense lyrics such as “trance music makes the faries dance” on ‘Fairy Paradise’ and “yeah I’m afraid of sharks, not the dark” on ‘Smokey Taboo’ to name but two.
The overriding key to enjoying CocoRosie lies in finding something to love in the vocals. You’re either going to enjoy Bianca’s childlike girlie sounds, or they’re going to grate. For example, the singing at the beginning of ‘Hopscotch’ is similar to that of a small child who’s been given too much sugar and taken over her school play. Thankfully, the song calms into a mellow drum’n’ bass beat accompanied by the relaxing and comparatively sane tones of sister Sierra’s wispy operatic vocals - that is, before Bianca finds the sugar and she’s off again. It can be a bit of a rollercoaster ride and I do find myself preferring songs such as ‘R.I.P. Burnface’, where Sierra does most of the singing, but overall Grey Oceans is a particularly strong LP possessing moments of genius, but not one for late night listening – god knows what you’d end up dreaming about after letting these ladies tamper with your subconscious for too long.
Artists in this article: Coco Rosie
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