Blonde Redhead’s debut on 4AD, 2004’s Misery Is A Butterfly, doesn’t really fit with my idea of how a 4AD record should sound. Nor should it. But critics will tell you that the brooding dark atmospheres that rise from the smoothest of productions are evidence of an evolution which drew the band to its new label. It is true that in the late 1980s, 4AD did develop a particular sound, around its outer margins via its less popular groups, but today there’s such diversity in its roster that such a comparison is lazy. More than this, because Misery Is A Butterfly doesn’t even compare to what was released twenty years ago, except for a passing resemblance to Cocteau Twins atmospherics.

Pink Love is the lengthy album climax painted on top of fluttering organ keys, which swirl around, left and right, and a determined bassline. Both manage to sit in the background, which gives greater emphasis to Kazu Makino and Amedeo Pace’s indulgent duet. Each vocalist is given time to breath their words. It’s fabulously plush and naked.

Blonde Redhead: Misery Is A Butterfly – Amazon UK
iTunes UK
Official Website