CoCoRosie's new album

CocoRosie is a musical group formed in 2003 by sisters Bianca "Coco" and Sierra "Rosie" Casady. The sisters were born and raised in the United States, but formed the band in Paris after meeting for the first time in years. Their music has been called "freak folk", and incorporates elements of pop, blues, opera, electronica, and hip hop.
CocoRosie was originally a duo, with Sierra singing, playing the guitar, piano and harp, and Bianca singing and manipulating various children's toys, electronic and percussion instruments, as well as other exotic noisemakers. They subsequently added various backing musicians at live shows, usually a bassist, synth player and beatboxer. They have been a very active touring group, playing across Europe, the United States, and elsewhere. They have released four full-length albums: La maison de mon rêve (2004), Noah's Ark (2005), The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn (2007), and Grey Oceans (2010).

Grey Oceans finds CocoRosie just as weird but slightly less indulgent than they were on The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn; just. The strange hissing of what sounds like steam under pressure introduces the album, and instantly the industrial feel of Eraserhead is called to mind. However, such harsh imagery is soon balanced out with the introduction of a soft piano and a lightly plucked harp. The sisters themselves float about in the mix with an almost ghostly presence, never quite pushing themselves to the forefront. Vocally, they've been constantly compared to the likes of Björk and Joanna Newsom over the years, but Grey Oceans establishes them as important voices in their own right. The sheer dexterity and variety of the performances across the album is simply astonishing.



The whole album is an eclectic mix of folk, electronica, musical hall, eastern spirituals and stream of consciousness songwriting. Weird it may be, but when CocoRosie get it right, as with the cutesy pop and dark piano melancholy mix of Lemonade, or the beautiful ethereal balladry of the title track for example, they are unstoppable.