987 This Mortal Coil - Blood (1991)

987 This Mortal Coil - Blood (1991)


Double studio album - Dream Pop



About the Act:

This Mortal Coil were a British "music collective". The official "Members" were Ivo Watts-Russell who founded new wave record label 4AD, and John Fryer, but their recordings featured a large revolving cast of guests, primarily from bands on the 4AD label but not exclusively. They produced three studio albums between 1984 and 1991.

About the Album:

This double album was the third studio album by the music collective This Mortal Coil. It features a plethora of musicians. Vocals are mostly by Alison Limerick, Caroline Crawley, and Dierdre Rutowski. 

My History with this Album:

None

Review:

Wow. It is not possible to get more different from the previous album reviewed, which was Guns 'n' Roses. This is going to be hard to describe. Airy, spacey, ethereal, minimal, downtempo. OK, not that hard. This is a double album of songs, almost all sung by female vocalists of the mellow and spacey variety. The instruments are mostly classical strings and synth pads, and the predominant feeling is of emptiness and dreaminess. It floats like a feather in a mild breeze and demands absolutely nothing. This would be really good music to go to sleep to. Occasionally there are percussion sounds, but usually low in the mix, and the beats are slow. Sometimes there are snatches of sound effects, one track has an extended section of a baby burbling to itself. Sometimes it's quite unusual musically.

This is nothing like I expected. I expected bitter goth darkness, angst and maybe anger. There was a boy in my class at school who followed cutting-edge music with great fervour. First he was into heavy metal, then punk, then new wave. I'm sure he had a "This Mortal Coil" badge for a while. Maybe that's why I expected something different. 

It's long and slow and it draws you in. It's apparent simplicity is deceptive, this is not that straightforward to carry off. It breathes. It's not so much melancholy as wistful. Do I like it? Yes. Do I love it? Well kind of, a bit. In the right mood it could wash over me like a shower of feathers. It is not a good album to listen to if you want to stay awake.

7.8/10



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