Musically, Robin Guthrie will be forever associated with the shimmering guitar haze of Cocteau Twins’ finest moments, such as Victorialand and Heaven Or Las Vegas, reinventing the wheel by deploying a totally new indie sound. Since that band pushed each other apart with internal anti-magnetism, Guthrie has pursued a solo career embracing two instrumental albums, soundtrack excursions and a host of production work and collaborations with the likes of Harold Budd and John Foxx.
Carousel finds Guthrie painting alone in the studio, using brushes that mostly seem to be from the old Cocteau paint set. Without a vocal, tracks such as Some Sort Of Paradise and Search Among The Flowers are the aural equivalent of a beach in need of a crashing wave. Then again, Mission Dolores almost defies gravity with a totally compelling arrangement and more hooks than a fisherman’s tackle box.
The secret to listening to Carousel is using headphones, which give mannered tracks the likes of Delight and Close My Eyes & Burn more punch. This is modern mood music and an album perfect for heavy rotation on dinner jazz frequencies (that’s not an insult), or an aid to meditation.
