Dear fans, friends, and followers,
Before the end-of-year holidays (and there are so many) consume what remains of our time and attention, it’s my pleasure to bring you the final 2024 instalment of Cocteau Twins News with goodies for you to sip and savour in those rare quiet moments over the next few weeks. (And if you’re searching for gifts of a Cocteau nature, there’s new merch!)
It turns out that 2024 was a rather busy year for our Cocteau trio, with Simon’s wonderful memoir, Robin’s bevvy of new music, and Elizabeth touring Europe with Massive Attack (though, alas, not North America).
Live recording advent calendar
We’ll start things off with a lovely — and recent — gift from dear Lincoln Fong, erstwhile engineer at September Sound and longtime friend of the band (and brother of Russell, master guitar-maker).1 Now that you sort of know who Lincoln is, it’s important for this next bit that you know he also handled Cocteau Twins live sound when they toured. (A very minor sort of job, really. No big deal.) He has a trove of soundboard recordings from shows spanning several years of touring, and has put together an “Unofficial Cocteau Twins Advent Calendar” on YouTube. Each day leading up to Christmas he posts one or more live recordings from performances going all the way back to 1985. There are some real gems in here, including this one — an untitled instrumental sometimes erroneously labeled “My Hue and Cry” (which is a different instrumental available on BBC Sessions). It must have been absolutely breathtaking to experience in person. Here’s what Lincoln had to say about it:
When you have someone who can sometimes sing very quietly the level you can blast the audience with becomes all about how loud you can make the vocal before it feeds back. Worst offending songs for this were “Aikea-Guinea,” “Cico Buff” and “Cherry-Coloured Funk.” Peter Van der Velde, genius of the monitor board, that’s the one by the side of the stage that controls what the band hears onstage or in their earphones, would spend ages at the soundcheck getting the stage to sound right and then I would try and take things loud out front without feedback. You can see him singing into the mic at soundcheck in the Boston video I posted. Instead of ‘check one two’ (which he did know btw) he would sing ‘lah-da-da-da-dah’ which fans will immediately know as “Pearly Dewdrops’” chorus. So that said, there is something that only people who saw this instrumental song played at a show will know (if they remember that far back) which is that unconstrained by the possibility of vocal feedback I could turn Elizabeth’s mic off. At one point in the tour, towards the middle of this track as the coda section came in (2-18) I decided to push the master fader up to the top and take the f***ing roof off the venue. It was the most cathartic feeling and probably stunned a lot of people. I would keep a few dB in reserve for a final push in the last 8 bars. I like this song and as far as I know it never came out on vinyl but my favourite memory is the buzz of blasting the PA at an unsuspecting crowd.
How badly do you wish they’d recorded that one in the studio?
On the topic of live recordings, a performance of “My Love Paramour” surfaced recently, which was new to my eyes, at least. It’s remarkable how Liz, in those years (her early 20s), just gave it everything she had. This one is allegedly from a gig at Paard von Troje, The Hague, Netherlands, roughly late 1983 or early 1984 (though the video says February 1985).
In One Ear gets an earful of love
We might have predicted this. Simon’s memoir, In One Ear: Cocteau Twins, Ivor, and Me, has been positively reviewed in multiple outlets, and the author himself has been busy speaking with the press about it, too, including this great interview with The Times from 26th August.
“Robin is a visionary and Elizabeth is a kind-hearted person but even then we didn’t talk much. Most of our conversations were about whether a song should be slow or fast.”
The Guardian wrote on 21st October that the book “reads like a love letter to a charmed life lived through music. He offers a potted biography of his father, Ivor, a 1960s songwriter who wrote I Only Want to Be With You for Dusty Springfield, and charts his own journey through marriage, children, divorce, remarriage and Tottenham Hotspur home games. Bella Union continues to thrive, and he gently reminds you that, spare wheel or not, he was a part of Cocteau Twins and helped create some of their most memorable songs, ‘Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops’ among them. What this book does best is send you back to the music. If Cocteau Twins always sounded exquisitely out of time, now they sound timeless.”
Simon also spoke on video with RPS Presents about the book.
But, please, no one tell me how it ends, all right? I’m still reading it.
In other ears-ful, Simon spoke with Word in Your Ear about, among other things, that time Cocteau Twins followed The Ramones on stage and 1979 being the Golden Age (which it no doubt was, but I was only 9 years old then and my favourite artist was Olivia Newton-John, may she rest in peace).2
Robin Guthrie: Astoria
Robin has continued his incredibly productive year, releasing yet more of his own music in addition to the Cocteau Twins remasters he’s done of The Moon and the Melodies, Four-Calendar Cafe, and Milk & Kisses.
Following on the heels of his Atlas EP and ‘orphan track’ “Mountain,” a new EP entitled Astoria was released to the world in November, and it truly sparkles and shines.
Robin chatted with Andrew Daly at Classic Rock History in October, where he talked about his new music and how it came to be.
…earlier this year, I finally got a bit of breathing space, and Atlas and its follow-up EP, Astoria, came to be. Life is full, and it can still feel like a reward to get some studio time, even though I have one all to myself.
I record and write music, often while traveling, and usually prefix the working title of my piece with a placename of where I was when the idea struck. After a while, my notes, with entries like Bolzano, Beirut, or Barra, reminded me of the index of an Atlas.
Often, my jottings and recordings contain impressions, not just from where I was geographically but also from whatever book I was reading at the time. For me, it’s a bit like cooking.
And as for what he’s working on next
I am currently producing a new album for Heligoland, have an unexpected release with Jay Jay Johansson in early 2025, and all things being well in the world, will finish up a new album when I get back from my current adventure.
Guthrie updated fans on Instagram about new re-issues of his LPs Carousel (2009) and Emeralds (2011), which have been out of print. “The original versions appeared on several labels and these new 2024 editions of the CD digipak versions on Soleil Après Minuit feature improved printing and audio faithful to the original versions.” You can order these directly from Robin’s Bandcamp page.
Elizabeth Fraser featured on Polish radio & the Massive Attack tour that wasn’t
Polish music fans have always had a fondness for Cocteau Twins, so it was not a huge surprise to see Liz featured as the focus of a series by Jedynka Polskie Radio called “Portrety” (Portraits), that highlights the careers of influential women in music. The retrospective covers Fraser’s work from Cocteau Twins era to Massive Attack and her solo recordings, including Sun’s Signature. (Commentary in Polish with audio excerpts of archival interviews with Elizabeth.)
And, as previously mentioned, Massive Attack canceled their planned North American tour, which would have featured Elizabeth as a guest performer. The Bristol-based group released a brief statement:
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, Massive Attack must regrettably cancel their upcoming performance at III Points Festival in Miami, FL on October 19th, as well as their shows in Atlanta GA, Washington DC, Boston MA, and Forest Hills NY. We appreciate your understanding at the time.”
No further details were available, though some suggest it had to do with visas and work permits.
Elsewhere in Cocteauworld
Uncut wrote a nice review of the digital remaster of The Moon and the Melodies: “It’s testament to the enduring artistry of Budd, Fraser, Guthrie and Raymonde, that it continues to sound as magically mysterious as ever, whatever its shifting context.”
The juggernaut of Heaven or Las Vegas continues to influence artists well into the 21st century. In the inevitable end-of-year “Spotify Wrapped” round of posts, massive chart-topper Charlie XCX had “Cherry-coloured funk” as her #3 most streamed track, while indie star St. Vincent (aka Annie Clark) had a sweep, with her top five being all HoLV tracks (“Cherry-coloured funk” was her #1). There were probably other notables with Cocteaus in theirs, but these are the ones I know about.
The Netflix series “Geek Girl” featured the track “Heaven or Las Vegas” in Series 1, Episode 10. I don’t know this show, but some folks seemed quite excited about it.
Fashion house Chloé opened their Summer 2025 collection fashion show in Paris with the track “Lorelei.”
Well, friends, that’s all for this edition. Thank you again for reading.
The world is a very volatile place right now, and I’m sure many of you are feeling uncertain, worried, scared, or worse, though some of you may not be, and that’s OK. Everyone has their ways of coping. As the opening bars of “Auld lang syne” waft in from the next room and we steel ourselves for 2025, try to remember that no one is alone in this world. Music brings people — of all backgrounds and persuasions — together, and we need that spirit now perhaps more than ever. Take good care, and remember to be kind to yourself and others.
A little more Heaven and a little less Las Vegas, eh?
Warmly,
Michael
P.S. -
Both Russell and Lincoln played in Moose. And K. J. "Moose" McKillop is married to Miki “Lush” Berenyi. Lush recorded their LP Spooky at September Sound, and Miki’s memoir Fingers Crossed was published by the same house that published Simon’s memoir, In One Ear. Connections are my passion.
Something to think about: IMO Olivia Newton-John’s voice and Elizabeth Fraser’s voice share a lot in common. My devotion to Cocteau Twins was no doubt fated — the way my brain processes or responds to certain vocal sounds or something like that. But, seriously, listen to the song “Xanadu” and consider how the song “Heaven or Las Vegas” rather closely approximates that vibe, but in a 1979 kind of way. I once mentioned this to John Grant and he agreed with me, and he is a genius, so there it is.