Robin Guthrie, the co-founder of seminal dream pop outfit Cocteau Twins, took to social media last week to drop some tantalizing news that has fans of the legendary band excited. According to his recent social media activity, he’s been working on some projects with his former label, the iconic 4AD. Apparently, these are closely linked to Cocteau Twins and are slated for release later this year.
Despite Guthrie’s tease, details about these projects remain shrouded in mystery. However, the musician posted an update on the band’s Facebook page last Friday, addressing an “orphaned” solo track he had released via Bandcamp in 2018. In the post, Guthrie also hinted at the possibility of some new solo material that he’s currently working on.
He posted:
“Hello, Robin Guthrie here. I’m working right now with 4AD on several projects which may please CT fans, for release later this year, not to mention some of my new work which is currently in production in my studio . That’s all to come…. more news soon.”
Cocteau Twins, a trio that consisted of Robin Guthrie, Elizabeth Fraser, and bassists Will Heggie (1973-1983) and Simon Raymonde (1983–1997), were so impactful on the musical landscape of the 1980s they became synonymous with their label, 4AD. The band released all of their music through the label until 1990’s Heaven or Las Vegas, when they left for Fontana, which issued their final two albums, Four-Calendar Café (1993) and Milk & Kisses (1996).
Despite the band’s breakup in 1997, 4AD has continued to release or reissue a number of Cocteau Twins titles, including the Stars and Topsoil collection (2000) and the Lullabies To Violaine singles box set (2005). The label recently released vinyl reissues of the band’s albums. Fontana has also released a box set of the band’s latter-period work.
Fans have long hoped for a release of the music recorded for a planned post-Milk & Kisses album, but Raymonde revealed to Spin in 2021 that the band hadn’t progressed far enough before breaking up. Although he admitted there were a few brilliant ideas, he said that it would require too much work for any of them to complete the album. He also stated that the Cocteau Twins would never reform, despite the trio agreeing to reunite for the Coachella festival in 2005 and a subsequent tour, which Fraser later canceled.
Since the Cocteaus’ breakup, Guthrie has released numerous solo albums and EPs, including music recorded with Ride’s Mark Gardener. His most recent release, the Springtime EP, came out in 2022. On the other hand, Raymonde runs Bella Union, the record label he started with Guthrie, and has recorded with the bands Snowbird and Lost Horizons.
Fraser recently toured with Massive Attack and released her first new music in over a decade in 2022, a five-song EP she recorded with her partner Damon Reece under Sun’s Signature. Last year, Guthrie and Fraser made a rare public appearance together when they accepted the Visionary Award on behalf of the Cocteau Twins at the 67th Ivor Novello Awards in London, and the band collaborated with Marc Jacobs on a capsule collection and retrospective exhibition on the artwork of their final 4AD album, 1990s Heaven or Las Vegas.
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