CocoRosie - Grey Oceans

 

Grey Oceans – the fourth album from the US-born, Paris-based sisters Casady – is a schizophrenic and intense tug o’ war. Eerie opening track Trinity’s Crying curtly recalls the duo's ethereal vocals as they weave around spoken word sections, eastern percussion, jazz piano and children's toys – complemented by harps and slithering strings. Smokey’s Taboo boasts harsh and otherworldly story-telling lines (think Björk circa Post) while the honky-tonk piano of Hopscotch gives way to swish electro beats and soaring vocals. The album’s title track features poignant lines to melt even the most cynical heart; the sparsest song on show, it allows the vocals due space to breathe and resonate. R.I.P. Bum Face belies its adolescent title to reveal a measured mixture of sounds where vocoder voices mesh well with glockenspiels and rumbling synthetic percussion. Grey Oceans highlights CocoRosie's ability to mix any genre that catches their ear, using any instrument they can get their hands on; leaving us with another characteristically enchanting and delightfully weird LP. [Lauren Mayberry]