Rating: NNNN
This album is probably going to surprise a lot of BR fans. Or, if the band’s lucky, supporters will just take it as a natural progression from directions evident on their last full-length. Whether the changes in musical temperament are the result of the label change or the reason for it, there’s little doubt that Misery Is A Butterfly earns its place in the 4AD catalogue. Kazu Makino’s vocal manoeuvres have never strayed closer to Liz Fraser’s Cocteau warble, and Amedeo Pace’s straining aspirations are in some gauzy Peter Lorre-land. Most of the trademark BR burrs have been stripped away, leaving winsome super-emotive melodies, suggestive of Nordic mood-crooners Björk and Jay Jay Johanson. Even Simone Pace’s traditionally boisterous drums are beating demure patterns. It’s a beautifully wrought album.
