COCTEAU TWINS Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Milk & Kisses proved to be the final studio album by the inimitable Scottish band Cocteau Twins, the band that made the 4AD label long before the likes of Dry Cleaning and Future Islands graced their roster. By the time in 1996 that they'd released this, however, album number eight, they'd moved on to major Fontana Records and were well into the period of their career where singer Elizabeth Fraser had switched to singing words rather than expressing herself through sounds alone. Not necessarily the happiest time for the band, who reportedly avoided each other during its recording, but still some of the dreamiest dream pop about at the time. Includes the song 'Rilkean Heart' which was penned about the late Jeff Buckley, a lifelong devotee of the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke.

Review: When Cocteau Twins released Milk & Kisses in 1996, it wasn't presented as their last album. It was only two years later when they went to record a follow-up they decided to call it a day. Despite that, it was actually the smoothest album to record after the dust has settled from interpersonal relationship breakups, and the harmony between the band shines through in these beautifully strange, strangely beautiful slices of mid-90s indie pop. Paying tribute to Jeff Buckley on 'Rilkean Heart', it's a true document of the time and sounds like the era packaged up on an album, now remastered and reissued via Proper.