Cibelle - Las Venus Resort Palace Hotel

 

Leading with a cover of Dr. No theme Underneath the Mango Tree, pop-nut Cibelle shares 007’s cosmopolitan internationalism. Born in Brazil and residing in London, her oddball compositions journey further still – into imaginary worlds, alighting on myriad genres. The variety is nice, but almost every track ends up sounding a little out of place, not least the guest vocal from Sam Genders of Tunng on The Gun and the Knife. Taken individually, their sinister duet is an eerie delight, but in a sequence that has previously touched upon laidback tropicalia (on Frankenstein), sassy sci-fi (Man From Mars) and sad piano ballad (er, Sad Piano) – and with brash sixties-style belter (Braid My Hair) and neo-folk doo-wop (It’s Not Easy Being Green) still to come – it sounds awkward. But Cibelle’s irreverence is infectious fun, so ignore the concept narrative and tackle Las Venus with the shuffle function on. [Chris Buckle]