Misery Is a Butterfly (CD)
Their first album in four years! Blonde Redhead's style has evolved over their decade-long career to include everything from art-punk to '60s European pop to Serge Gainsbourg. But they've always had a sound that was uniquely their own -- you always know when Blonde Redhead is on the stereo. "Misery Is a Butterfly," their latest album, is as much of a creative leap forward from their last record as that record was from its predecessors. Throughout, the band's gently mournful economy of style is adorned by a cinematic breadth of instrumentation, and although the lyric writing is split as usual between Kazu and Amedeo, the rich depth of the arrangements creates a striking unity of purpose. Additionally, "Misery Is a Butterfly" features some of the most tender music in the Blonde Redhead catalogue -- tracks like "Anticipation" and "Magic Mountain" swell and shimmer with wistful melodies and delicately-placed skeins of sound. Keyboards, violins, and cellos swirl through the mix, conjuring plangent atmospheres and making "Misery Is a Butterfly" an overwhelmingly fluid and rich counterpoint to the angular starkness of Blonde Redhead's early releases.
| Tracklisting | |
| Disk | 1 | |
| 1 | Elephant Woman |
| 2 | Messenger |
| 3 | Melody |
| 4 | Doll Is Mine |
| 5 | Misery Is a Butterfly |
| 6 | Falling Man |
| 7 | Anticipation |
| 8 | Maddening Cloud |
| 9 | Magic Mountain |
| 10 | Pink Love |
| 11 | Eqvvs |
| Peter Pendergrass
- Greensboro, NC, USA |
| When Blonde Redhead returned with this album, I think the world became a better place. I'm quite partial to stringed intruments, so all the violins and such in this record just make me melt. This record doesn't exactly sound like older Blonde Redhead stuff, but it sort of redefined/refined their sound. The layers of sound, the pure feeling of the music, and the inevitable chills will keep this album on repeat, especially the title track. I love it when the title track of an album absolutely makes the album. All the songs are great, but if any were to be taken out, it wouldn't be quite the same. All in all, even though it's sort of rainy day music, it makes me really happy. | |