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Baker's Dozen

The Only Goth In The Village: Rachel Goswell's Favourite Albums
Julian Marszalek , August 16th, 2023 08:33

Ahead of their performance at this year’s Green Man festival, Slowdive’s Rachel Goswell talks to Julian Marszalek about being the only goth in the village, the enduring power of the voice and why pen pals and fan clubs are beautiful things.

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Cocteau Twins – Treasure
Back in the 80s, I had been the only goth in the village, and so I had quite a lot of pen friends all over all over the country. And one of them sent me a recording of Treasure. I'd never heard Cocteau Twins before, and I still remember lying in bed with my headphones on listening to that for the first time and just being completely blown away by Elizabeth Frazer’s voice because it's just so otherworldly!

That record has stayed with me. I think all of these records have their place in being important to me, but that album particularly opened up an entirely new world to me musically, because up to that point, it was Siouxsie And The Banshees, The Smiths, The Cure, Echo And The Bunnymen.

We opened for Cocteau Twins once with Mojave 3. I remember being just so nervous that I couldn't speak to any of them. I’ve met Robin Guthrie a few times since, and we've had quite a lot of conversations and he’s lovely. But way back then, I was literally so awestruck that I looked at Elizabeth Fraser and thought that I cannot possibly speak to her. Now if I met her, I'd probably be a bit more confident, but back then…