Have you ever listened to a song and had no clue what the artist was saying? Are they rapping too fast? Mumbling words? Or could they just be speaking complete gibberish? Just a couple seconds of listening to the Cocteau Twins will leave most wondering what exactly they are saying, or if they are even saying anything at all.
The trio band, consisting of couple Elizibeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie joined by Will Heggie, who would later be replaced by Simon Raymonde in 1983. The band formed originally in 1979, came out of Grangemouth, Scotland, and started releasing their first studio albums in the early 80’s. The band is considered to be the founders of the music styles “dream-pop” and “ethereal wave,” making them some of the first to popularize this genre. Not only did this group pioneer a whole new genre of music, but the thing that sets them apart from others is the lyrics. The songs are written in a bizarre mix of English, Gaelic and French, as well as just completely made-up words. If you listen closely, you can pick up on hints of English, but other than that, it sounds completely incoherent.
This phenomenon of “unintelligible, language-like sounds,” is referred to as Glossolalia. Earlier forms of this first showed up with jazz scatting techniques. The Cocteau Twins took what was once commonly a religious-related linguistic technique and turned it into musicality. The lead vocalist Elizabeth Fraser has stated that she prioritizes the transcendent sound of her voice over the lyrics. In an interview with 1FM radio, Fraser said, “The words don’t have any meaning at all until I sing them. I did it so I could sing something.” Fraser was speculated to have used the Glossolalia technique as a way of hiding behind the fear of writing lyrics with true meaning.
After the breakup of the band in the late 1990’s due to complications with Fraser and Guthrie’s relationship. Fraser’s music career came to a halt for the next few years, as she only did small projects for films. In 2001, Fraser’s vocals were featured, singing yet another foreign language. She sang the Lament for Gandalf, a song sung entirely in the Elvish language, specific to the Lord of the Rings series. Stepping out of her usual dialect, this would be one of many songs released independently of the band. Her recent work, including an EP and an album released in 2023, have millions of streams on music platforms.
As for the earlier music, songs from their hit album, “Heaven or Las Vegas,” have made their way through trends on social media. Impressively keeping relevance today, despite not having released a song together since 1993. All 3 members of the original band are still active with music today, still working with a similar sound as they did when the group was still together.
