9. Cocteau TwinsTreasure
I have always been into these folk-like voices. I was sampling similar artists, like Tori Amos, at the beginning of Visionist because I was always interested in different tones of the voice. Genre was never specific, it was just tone, and how I could work with different tones. I had a moment where I wasn’t sleeping a lot, and ended up watching TV in bed. Top Of The Pops 2 would come on and I ended up in this 80s pop music wormhole. It was interesting how many acts were incorporating experimental aspects into pop songs. The whole period looked great, and I feel like we can’t really have that now. I was always aware of Elizabeth Fraser and Cocteau Twins, but that experience made me explore more deeply. This is one of the albums that stood out for me. The album is fascinating, particularly with her as a singer. You can’t really understand what she is saying in a lot of the tracks. We find that cult, different and celebrate it. I think of parallels in rap music with the mumble rapper and how It’s looked down-on to a degree. You have Young Thug: some of it you don’t understand, some of it you do. It’s all about the melodies, harmonies and rhythms. It is a strange parallel for sure and I am sure no one has talked about it before, but it’s the connection I made through my experience. The different way it’s celebrated interests me. You can think about how Enya was sampled for The Fugees. Black culture has always looked at this music and has seen a connection. I think that’s just something that has happened to me as well.
