Four Calendar Cafe

Description

This reissue of the Cocteau Twins' 1993 album has been remastered by Robin Guthrie and is pressed on high-quality 140g vinyl. The Cocteau Twins' singer Elizabeth Fraser, guitarist Robin Guthrie, and bassist Simon Raymonde formed in Grangemouth, Scotland, in the late 1970s. Originally conceived by Guthrie and original bassist Will Heggie in 1981, they added Fraser and the following year signed with 4AD, one of the most renowned independent labels. With Raymonde replacing Heggie in 1983, the trio continued to create some of the most unique and ethereal music of the 80s, built around Guthrie's chiming guitar and Fraser's unmatched soprano. By the early 90s, the band had just released its most successful album, the commercial Heaven or Las Vegas, but the relationship with 4AD was coming to an end. The Mercury Fontana label was going through a sort of purple patch, signing former underground bands, and in 1992, Cocteau Twins joined The Fall and House Of Love. The band's first album for Fontana, Four-Calendar Cafe, was released in October 1993. Its vaporous melodies and largely optimistic pop belied the turmoil the band was experiencing. Barney Hoskyns, writing in Mojo, stated that Four-Calendar Cafe was "the most poignant and heartbreaking Cocteau record of all, an album of raw confession and beauty... Sadness has never seemed so luscious." Simon Raymonde agrees: "I think over time, people will realize how great Four-Calendar Cafe is. Because I think it's beautiful." Led by the single Evangeline, it reached number 13 on the UK album charts and is highly regarded by fans.