Cocteau Twins

1979–1983: Early years Guthrie and Heggie, both from Grangemouth, Scotland, formed the band in 1979. They met the 17-year-old Fraser in 1981 at a local disco, The Hotel International, where Guthrie was DJing, and she became the group's vocalist. Their debut LP Garlands, released through 4AD in July 1982, was a sales success, peaking at number 14 in the indie albums chart in the UK. Sounds wrote that the style of the band was "mixing strong Siouxsie and the Banshees and Joy Division influences". NME established the same comparisons, likening it to "Banshee John McKay's guitar", while Spin compared it in 1986 to Bauhaus. The album was followed by the EP Lullabies in October. In April 1983, the band released a second EP, Peppermint Pig. Cocteau Twins' sound on their first three recordings relied on the combination of Heggie's rhythmic basslines, Guthrie's minimalist guitar melodies, and Fraser's voice. The band's next full-length LP record, Head over Heels, relied solely on the latter two, following Heggie's departure (he would later join Lowlife). Guthrie has cited Phil Spector's wall of sound as "an obvious influence" on his sound. In 1983, the band participated in 4AD's This Mortal Coil project, which spawned a cover version of Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" (performed by Guthrie and Fraser). Despite appearing under the This Mortal Coil name, the cover has subsequently become one of the best-known Cocteau Twins tracks. While working on This Mortal Coil, Guthrie and Fraser became acquainted with another project contributor, multi-instrumentalist Simon Raymonde (formerly a member of Drowning Craze), who joined Cocteau Twins later that year. and No. 1 on the UK Indie Chart. Raymonde, who was called in to work on the second album by This Mortal Coil, did not participate in the recording of the fourth Cocteau Twins LP, Victorialand (1986), a predominantly acoustic record which featured only Guthrie and Fraser. Raymonde returned to the group for The Moon and the Melodies (1986), a collaboration with ambient composer Harold Budd, "Carolyn's Fingers" was popular on alternative radio, reaching number two on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. 1990–1994: Mainstream success The group released Heaven or Las Vegas in early 1990. Despite the success of the record and the subsequent concert tours, not everything was well with the band. They parted ways with 4AD following Heaven or Las Vegas partly because of conflicts with the label's founder Ivo Watts-Russell, and were close to breaking up over internal problems due in large part to Guthrie's substance abuse. While on their international tour supporting Heaven or Las Vegas, the group signed a new recording contract with Mercury Records subsidiary Fontana for the UK and elsewhere, while retaining their US relationship with Capitol. They added several live musicians to their touring band during this era, to better replicate the layered sound of their studio albums. In 1991, 4AD and Capitol released a box set that compiled the band's EPs from 1982 to 1990, and also included a bonus disc of rare and previously unreleased material. Fraser and Guthrie had a daughter, Lucy Belle, born in 1989. The couple ended their 13-year relationship in 1993. The band's seventh LP, Four-Calendar Café, their first since Fraser and Guthrie's separation, was released in late 1993. Four-Calendar Café was the band's highest position on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 78, and stayed three weeks in that chart. Some of the tracks on Twinlights and Otherness were versions of songs from the band's eighth album, Milk & Kisses (1996). The band, augmented by an extra guitarist and a drummer, toured extensively to support the album, their last for Mercury/Fontana. A new song, "Touch Upon Touch", which debuted during the live shows and was recorded later in 1996 was also one of the two songs written and arranged by Fraser, Guthrie and Raymonde for Chinese pop singer Faye Wong for her Mandarin album Fuzao released in June 1996, the other being "Tranquil Eye" from Violaine released in October 1996. In 1997, while recording what was to have been their ninth LP, the trio disbanded over irreconcilable differences in part related to the breakup of Guthrie and Fraser. Some songs were partially recorded and possibly completed, but the band has stated that they will likely never be finished or released in any form. ==Post-breakup==

1998–2005: BBC Sessions and Coachella Fraser provided guest vocals for three songs on Massive Attack's Mezzanine in 1998 (as well as touring with them several times), and for other musical projects and groups. She wrote the lyrics and sang the vocals for "Teardrop" by Massive Attack which was released as a single in 1998 and reached number 10 in the UK singles chart. In 1999, Bella Union, the record label founded by Guthrie and Raymonde, released a double-CD Cocteau Twins compilation entitled BBC Sessions. The collection is a complete record of the band's appearances on UK radio programmes from 1982 to 1996, with rare and unreleased material included. Fraser provided the vocals for "Lament for Gandalf" on The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack, and in 2000, she sang with Peter Gabriel on Ovo (The Millennium Show). In 2003, 4AD released digitally remastered versions of the first six Cocteau Twins LPs. Raymonde released the solo album Blame Someone Else as the first release on Bella Union in 1997. He also co-produced the posthumous album by Billy Mackenzie from the Associates, then went on to produce several Domino Records artists like James Yorkston, Archie Bronson Outfit (whom he later managed) and Clearlake. In January 2005, Cocteau Twins announced that they would be reforming to perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 30 April, and later indicated that additional tour dates would be added. On 16 March, the reunion was cancelled after Fraser announced that she would not take part. In a 2009 interview, Fraser said she could not go through the pain of sharing the stage with her former lover Guthrie, the issue behind the band's 1997 breakup. In 2005, 4AD released a limited edition of 10,000 compilation box set titled Lullabies to Violaine, a 4-disc set that includes every single and EP released from 1982 to 1996. This was shortly followed up by two 2-disc sets of the same names, known as Volume 1 and Volume 2. In 2012, "Cherry-Coloured Funk", "Pitch the Baby", and "Frou-Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires" which featured on Heaven or Las Vegas (1990), were performed live by lead singer Elizabeth Fraser during her Meltdown Festival solo performances. Each of the three songs featured new musical arrangements during Fraser's performances at the festival. 2005–present: Podcast and Ivor Novello Award In 2005, Fraser worked with Breton musician Yann Tiersen on two songs for his album Les Retrouvailles. Since March 2007, the band has started podcasts of exclusive material. On 6 October 2008 Cocteau Twins were awarded the Q Awards Inspiration Award, which they accepted in a rare collective live appearance. In 2009, Fraser released the single "Moses" on Rough Trade. Guthrie has released six solo albums—Imperial, Continental, Carousel, Emeralds, Fortune, and Pearldiving—and eight EPs. He toured extensively with his band Violet Indiana, which included ex-Cocteau Twins guitarist Mitsuo Tate. He has also scored the music for three movies—Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin (in collaboration with Harold Budd), Dany Saadia's 3:19 Nada Es Casualidad (a Mexican/Spanish production), and again with Gregg Araki and Harold Budd on the score and the soundtrack of White Bird in a Blizzard. Fraser and Guthrie attended the award ceremony in London in May 2022. In 2023, Guthrie remastered the albums Four-Calendar Café and Milk & Kisses, which was later re-released under an exclusive license by their former record label, 4AD, in 2024 on vinyl, compact disc, and digital formats. ==Musical style and legacy==

Cocteau Twins' early recordings were classified in the gothic rock and post-punk genres. The band's influences at the time they formed included The Birthday Party (drummer Phill Calvert encouraged the group to sign to 4AD), Sex Pistols, Kate Bush and Siouxsie and the Banshees (Fraser had Siouxsie tattoos on her arms for several years). The band was named after the early Simple Minds song "The Cocteau Twins" (later rewritten as "No Cure") with a reference to a Jean Cocteau novel. As the band's sound developed, their subsequent music was classified as dream pop, and darkwave. Fraser's vocals included invented or unknown words, sometimes ones she found in foreign language books, adding to the band's dreamy ambience. Cocteau Twins' music has influenced numerous artists in different genres, including Slowdive, Ride, Cigarettes After Sex, Quicksand, Deftones, the Weeknd, Napalm Death, John Grant, and Prince. The Guardian described their music as "the gold standard for enigmatic, ethereal indie-pop", citing their ability to "emerge fully formed from the post-punk shadows". Music critic Rob Morton of The New York Sun wrote, "With their impenetrable lyrics and intense privacy, the band quickly developed an aura of mystique. The Twins were largely responsible for defining the 4AD aesthetic in the late 1980s, they have proven hugely influential over the years, and they have been namechecked by artists as diverse as Prince, Madonna, and My Bloody Valentine". ==Members==

• Elizabeth Fraser – vocals, lyrics (1981–1997) • Robin Guthrie – guitars, bass, keyboards, production, drum machine (1979–1997) • Will Heggie – bass (1979–1983) • Simon Raymonde – bass, keyboards (1983–1997) Touring contributors • Ben Blakeman – additional guitars (1990–1994) • Mitsuo Tate – additional guitars (1989–1996) • Benny Di Massa – drums (1994–1996) • David Palfreeman – percussion (1993–1996) ==Discography==

• Garlands (1982) • Head over Heels (1983) • Treasure (1984) • Victorialand (1986) • The Moon and the Melodies (1986, with Harold Budd) • Blue Bell Knoll (1988) • Heaven or Las Vegas (1990) • Four-Calendar Café (1993) • Milk & Kisses (1996) ==References==