photo by Nathan Casady
CocoRosie's shady and oh so cool track (and video) Restless is so delicious. A guilt free musical morsel, a tortured Lifetime movie watched while munching caramel popcorn, a 60's broken pop tear jerker that you can dance to or skate to. By the way, being a good roller skater is absolute sexy but I digress.
CocoRosie, the musical project of multi-media artists Sierra and Bianca Casady is a whirlwind of styles all at the whimsical behest of the two sisters who see the world and make their art in mysterious ways. If you are at all familiar with them you might see them perform folk, opera, hip-hop and baroque art pop ALL at the same time basically. Their ultimate ability, their innate sense to blend these diverse styles and make them taste good is a wondrous, mysterious achievement. Restless actually is a calm song in this regard for the artful duo, still it blends more motifs than you would think at one glance or listen and besides I can't stop listening to it and the evocative story it tells.
Restless - the new track from CocoRosie - taken from the upcoming album ‘Put The Shine On’, out March 13th 2020 on Marathon Artists.
- Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
CocoRosie is the music-based project of American cross-disciplinary performance artists Sierra and Bianca Casady. Their songs blend a myriad of styles and references, from hip-hop to folk and opera, shaping the most painful of experiences into memorable and evocative pop songs. Taken as a whole, CocoRosie’s music is an ongoing psychologically intimate dialogue between the siblings. Each sister has multiple personae and vocal styles; Bianca delivers troubadourian-style rap while Sierra often responds with ethereal tones while accompanying their voices on harp, piano, or guitar. A quintessential part of their sound is a percussive landscape made using children's toys and other found objects which adds a particular nostalgia to their songs.
Finding expression for their ideas in other disciplines beyond the traditional musical parameters is paramount to the sisters - and often a source of inspiration for their songwriting. In addition to their album tours and festival performances worldwide, Bianca has held solo exhibitions of her artwork in NYC at Deitch Gallery and Cheim and Read. Bianca has created “Nightshift,” a dance-theater production and Sierra wrote and performed “Soul Life,” an experimental opera, both staged at the Donau Festival in Krems which they currated in 2012. Continuing on her path to become a theater director, Bianca directed two theater plays with the National Theater Academy in Norway and is currently developing new works, exploring new forms of opera and dance where Sierra will play a lead role, to be premiered at the Manchester Festival in 2022.
Sierra has arranged and performed music in collaboration with the likes of the Symphony Orchestra of Amsterdam, The ICA in London and The Sydney Opera House.
Most recently, CocoRosie has composed original scores for four full-length theatrical works by Robert Wilson: Peter Pan, Pushkin's Fairy Tales, Edda and Jungle Book. Last year they presented the second series of songs written for a collaboration with the Kronos Quartet at their hometown Kronos Festival in San Francisco.
In their seventeen years as CocoRosie, the sisters Sierra and Bianca Casady have released six albums: Heartache City (2015), Tales of A Grass Widow (2013), Grey Oceans (2010), The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn (2007), Noah's Ark (2005), and their first album, La Maison de Mon Reve (2004) -- each one inspiring controversy and debate in equal amounts to praise; such is their fearlessness and willingness to take risks with their art. This strong creative vision runs through every aspect of their work - from videos to live performance utilizing theatrical costumes and make-up - which they create alongside each new body of songs.
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