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An open mind is the passport to CocoRosieland; the sisters Casady are the poster children for the wyrd-folk scene and will enchant or infuriate (we naturally find the former). Their debut album ‘Maison de Mon Reve’ in 2004 had a mesmerising beauty and there are similar treasures within ‘Noah’s Ark’, although there isn’t the same sense of surprise as there was 18 months ago, with so many folky fellow-travellers now haunting the public eye.
The music of CocoRosie is experimental folk music; toy instruments, piano and subtle electronica accompany voices that are part Joanna Newsom-childlike, part Billie Holliday-anguished. Friends on the record include Devendra Banhart, Antony, Diane Cluck and Jana Hunter. Antony is instantly recognisable on ‘Beautiful Boyz’, intoning “pimps and queens and criminal queers/ all those beautiful boyz” over a sinister shuffle-beat and setting off Bianca’s (or is it Sierra’s?) voice gloriously. Devendra’s style is prominent on ‘South 2nd’ while he sings in Spanish on ‘Brazilian Sun’, a sad and spooky folk tune. The best track, ‘Tekno Love Song’, is like sherbet on your tongue, fizzing with tinkly music-box tunes.
While there’s a sense of magical enchantment, there’s no Tinkerbell sprinkling fairy dust; the voices might be child-like but this magic isn’t for children. Song titles include ‘Armageddon’ and have disturbing lyrics as in ‘K-Hole’: “God will come and wash away/ our tattoos and all the cocaine/ and all the aborted babies/ will turn into little bambies”, while ‘Honey or Tar’ is a song about aggressive (female) sexuality.
It’s a magical tour led by two terrible angels. Get it and fall under the spell. It’ll be all the rage in the local covens this year.