Coco Rosie's music sounds like a forest in the midst of a city. Carefully balancing the bohemian, erotic and cynical side of urban life with the innocent and primal feel of Mother Earth, the duo, sisters, invent a tortured, artistic sound so original, it's difficult to pinpoint its origins and influences; it's a sound that would seem to come from a world of their own creation.
At the heart of this music are the sisters' undeniably distinct voices, which
weave in and out, shaking and quivering. Coco Rosie's new album, Noah's Ark,
is filled with quirky noises and oddball feelings. Often, emotive piano takes
the lead; their emotionally touching songs are sad and mesmerizing, sometimes
sounding like gospel, sometimes like tribal hymns — never failing to feel
strange and out of sorts all the while. Because the recording is raw and crackling, Noah's
Ark evokes
the intimate nostalgia of old jazz records.
Opener "K-Hole" features cinematic piano, distant drum-machine beats and childlike,
half-whispered vocals that seem to mock the hypocrisy of organized religion: "God
will come and wash away/ Our tattoos and all the cocaine/ And all of the aborted
babies/ Will turn into little bambies." With vocal contributions from Antony
(of Antony and the Johnsons) and a dark, crushing electrified backbeat, "Beautiful
Boyz" is a dreary ode to an orphan-turned-criminal: "He went to prison/ In every
country he set foot in/ Oh how he loved prison/ How awfully lovely prison was."
With animal noises (cat meowing, horse neighing, etc.) in the background, "Bears Hides and Buffalo" skips and bounces gently around drum-machine hiccups, tinkering keys and operatic singing. The title track is the album's most upbeat cut, relatively speaking, for its swift, hurtling dance beats and amusing lyricism: "Noah's ark came to my house one day/ With his animals/ And he took me away."
With Noah’s Ark Coco Rosie have truly come into their own, delivering an eccentric sound so one-of-a-kind it could have come from no world but their own.
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