This is the first time in nearly four decades that The Moon And The Melodies has been issued on vinyl, and despite this lengthy period, it sounds every bit as good as it did the first time around.
Never released as an actual Cocteau Twins album, The Moon And The Melodies still has all the trademarks of the band. Or, at least, it seems to at its onset, with Fraser’s beguiling vocals on ‘Sea, Swallow Me‘ as beautifully ethereal as ever, irrepressible and captivating, like a siren calling you out to the deep blue yonder. The difference here, though, is provided by the ambient pioneer Harold Budd, which transforms proceedings to an even more atmospheric soundscape, which you wouldn’t think possible, would you? But he manages it, and then some.
Much of the record thereafter is of an instrumental bent, kind of spooky but elegantly graceful at the same time. So ‘Memory Gongs‘ feels a bit like what I would imagine a waiting room for the afterlife might be like. You’re unsure, but somehow not afraid. A celestial out-of-body style experience, if you will, which carries on the uncertainty through the oh-so-subtle changes of ‘Why Do You Love Me?‘, which is rather like the relaxing music a masseuse might play in the background while your muscles get rejuvenated.
At this point, Fraser’s vocals return for the gorgeous ‘Eyes Are Mosaics‘ and ‘She Will Destroy You‘, whisking you off to another plane completely. Few singers can pull off the illusion of transporting you to a different world but Fraser has always had this uncanny knack of doing so, and I’m not sure that there’s any point in the Cocteaus’ existence in which she achieved it quite as effectively as she did here. Richard Thomas, from Dif Juz, contributes a quietly sobering saxophone in the second half of the album too, which in itself is quite bewitching.
It’s a somewhat understated release, to say the least, but, to borrow from the accompanying press release, “it casts a long shadow.” It has undoubtedly stood the test of time and ought to be regarded as an essential part of The Cocteau Twins’ already highly impressive discography, even if that’s not how they chose to credit the record. About a thousand light years ahead of its time.
