Listen to Cocteau Twins cover ‘Frosty The Snowman’
Christmas is upon us. If you haven’t let yourself slip into full festive flow by now, I suggest you root out that old Now That’s What I Call Christmas CD and re-adopt those cheesy earworms. Though most of us need the staple comfort of Wham!, Chris Rea and Jona Lewie at this time of year, there’s always space for leftfield Christmas hits, especially when it’s the enchanting voice of Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser.
The core and longest-standing lineup of Cocteau Twins consisted of Fraser, Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie. In every element of their sound, the trio offered something fresh and seminal. On the instrumental side of proceedings, Guthrie and Raymonde trailblazed a distinctive, distorted and dreamy sound through the heavy use of synthesisers and guitar pedals.
The band’s prolific output of the 1980s, alongside the heavier work of The Jesus and Mary Chain and noise-rock outfits like Sonic Youth, firmly informed the emergence of shoegaze music through the late 1980s and ’90s. This highly textured ethereal flow of sound gave Cocteau Twins half of their DNA, with Fraser’s unique vocal approach finishing the job.
Cocteau Twins founders Fraser and Guthrie hail from Grangemouth, near Falkirk in Scotland. In a bid to channel their Gaelic heritage, Fraser uses the Puirt à beul style of mouth-singing native to Scotland and Ireland. “Singing on the famous street, I want to love me. Am I just in heaven or Las Vegas. It’s so much more brighter than the sun is to me,” is an extract from the lyrics of Cocteau Twins’ famous song ‘Heaven or Las Vegas’. These lyrics will be difficult to recognise even for the most avid of fans due to Fraser’s opaque delivery.
On first listen, some will become certain that Cocteau Twins’ songs are written in another language. Alas, Fraser writes in English, and with her distinctive style, powerful emotions are communicated through annunciation and intensity above mere language.
Fraser’s intriguing singing style calls for a peculiar lyrical structure, which has been a source of concern for Fraser in the past. She has been quoted several times as saying that “the words don’t make sense until I sing them”.
“I wasn’t convinced that I was any good. And the more I was asked questions about what I was doing, the more afraid I was,” Fraser said during an interview in 1995. She then revealed that her emotional delivery helps to exorcise these anxieties. “It came out in the lyrics; it came out in the performance. It still does, but it’s where I learnt my social skills, where I do my experimenting for life.”
With eight brilliant Cocteau Twins albums under her belt and several prominent collaborations, including her extraordinary lead vocals on Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’, I hope she is now more assured in her talents.
Today, we’re celebrating Christmas and the unique sound of Cocteau Twins by listening to their alternative Christmas hit from 1993, ‘Frosty the Snowman’. Check it out below.
