CocoRosie
Grey Oceans

THE REVIEW

Fourth-floor terrace. Darkness, solitude. It's three in the morning, and around me prevails an unnatural silence, at times perhaps excessively eerie. As a chronic insomniac, it has become a habit for me to retreat to my corner of paradise where no one, no one can reach me. Tonight, I want to escape from reality, venture into territories still unknown to me, to fly with my imagination to where I feel safe, sheltered from a world that understands me less and less. To do this, I simply need to let go, to let go to the music. I close my eyes... and they arrive, Bianca and Sierra Casady, who, with the spirit of woodland fairies, transport me to a magically surreal dimension. They are the CocoRosie, and the journey I want to tell you about has only one name, "Grey Oceans".

The deep and tense soprano vocals of Bianca are set against Sierra's fairytale-like, pure ones in "Trinity's Crying," a play that immediately captures my attention, predicting the spectacular nature of this concept. Whispered words, sounds coming from who knows what particular and remote place... I let myself be guided by the sweet piano notes that close the track and... the second destination awaits me. "Smokey Taboo" offers Middle Eastern atmospheres, particularly Arabic, with a formidable and successful intertwining of sitar and R&B, reminiscent of the places the Casady sisters visited during their 2008 tour: Australia, Argentina, Paris, Berlin. I now have the absolute certainty that this journey, so varied and complex, will take me very, very far. Surely the fun electro-beat of "Hopscoth" is something unexpected after such a soft and intimate beginning, but those who have already listened to CocoRosie's previous work will be accustomed to their typical quirky ideas. An exciting dialogue between Sierra and the piano characterizes the whimsical "Undertaker," which, at the end, refers to sophisticated Persian blends. The piano component is the most beautiful aspect we find in the title track, a wonderful melancholic ballad with perfect, albeit subtle, operatic references. My journey continues with "R.i.p Burn Face" and "The Moon Asked The Crow", where the parallels with Bjork become more pronounced, thanks to wild and hypnotic experimentation. However, the retro gem of the album is represented by "Lemonade", which encapsulates all the art of the American sisters, with electro-musical paradoxes that marry with more refined and rarefied atmospheres compared to the past... The laughter of a child, the meow of a cat, the whisper of the wind, introduce "Gallows" all seasoned with careful and elegant harp work. Sadly, my journey is about to come to an end, and the unpredictable finale is entrusted to the ironic "Here I Come", characterized by Bianca's lowered voice and perhaps overly excessive pulses.

If the talent of these two "unreal figures" perhaps went unnoticed with "La Maison De Mon Réve", "Grey Oceans" is undoubtedly the emblem of CocoRosie's illogical and unreasonable personality.

A strange sensation of peace and tranquility suddenly pervades me... I turn off the iPod, and the first light of dawn forces me to return to reality...