Cocteau Twins - 'Lullabies To Violaine' (4AD) Released 20/03/06

Originally released as a ten CD box set, ‘Lullabies To Violaine’ is spread over two mammoth volumes, four discs, 59 tracks and almost five hours chronicling the Cocteau Twins’ sprawling career from 1982 to 1996. Breathtaking in scope and the sheer radiance of the music it contains, it’s a comprehensive journey into the ethereal soundscapes of the band through all of their single and EP releases. Admittedly it’s a challenging listen especially for those unintiated with the band’s beguiling, hypnotic rhythms, spaced-out atmospherics and Elizabeth Fraser’s enchanting vocals – but this is music that once you get fully absorbed into is all consuming.

From the outset with 1982’s mesmeric ‘Feather-Oar-Blades’ showcasing Fraser’s malleable vocal range coupled with a rumbling Joy Division-esque bass line and discordant reverberations, this is truly rapturous music that sounds not just ahead of its time but ahead of a lot of music from today. Elsewhere, single ‘Peppermint Pig’ is typically haunting, the alternate version of ‘Pearly-Dewdrops’ Drops’ is just stunning and the shimmering ‘Pink Orange Red’ haunts the soul. Yet throughout it’s clear that many of the perhaps lesser known tracks are irrefutable highlights. The likes of the breathless ‘Kookaburra’ and the shrilling ‘Eggs and their Shells’ (a track echoing the vocals that Fraser leant to Massive Attack’s masterpiece ‘Teardrops’) hit home as hard as anything else.  

Perhaps not as strong and musically intricate as the first volume, the second collection is still abundant with gems. The sanguine, yearning ‘Evangeline’ draws you in ‘Summer Blink’ is impossibly breezy and lush, while the pulsating ‘Seekers Who Are Lovers’ offers a more electronic tinged side to the band. Thrown into the mix are Christmas songs ‘Winter Wonderland’ and ‘Frosty the Snowman’ which really shouldn’t work, but manage to sound typically eerie. Elsewhere, five acoustic tracks make up the finale of the first CD which although more stripped down and simplistic have an endearing vulnerably.  The collection ends magnificently with arguably the pinnacle – the celestial chimes of ‘Alice.’

Paradoxically despite each track offering something unique, perhaps a slight drawback for the collection is that it’s imbued with the same Cocteau Twins trademark alien sound, making it hard to take in in large doses. But really this is only a minor niggle, as taken as a whole this is an essential work that 400 of our words can’t do justice.