Harold Budd & Cocteau Twins
The Moon And The Melodies LP

Almost forty years after it was initially released, The Moon and the Melodies by Cocteau Twins and Harold Budd is being reissued on vinyl for the first time – remastered, from the original tapes, by Robin Guthrie himself.

The Moon and the Melodies is a singular record within the Cocteau Twins’ catalogue – unusually ethereal, even by their standards, and largely instrumental, guided by the free-form improvisations of Harold Budd, an ambient pioneer who had drifted into their orbit as if by divine intervention. Building on the atmospheric bliss of Victorialand, released earlier the same year, it signaled a possible future for the trio, yet it was a path they’d never take again.

Over the ensuing years, The Moon and the Melodies has attracted a passionate fan base. Its most atmospheric tracks routinely turn up in ambient DJ sets. ‘Sea, Swallow Me’ is one of the Cocteau Twins’ most streamed songs on Spotify, having found a new life on TikTok, where it serves as the soundtrack to innumerable expressions of hard-to-express melancholy.

For such a low-key affair, the album casts a long shadow – but Raymonde believes the record’s uniqueness stems directly from its humble, unpremeditated origins. “It captured a moment in time between friends that are enjoying making music together. Really, that’s the essence of it.”

NEW / Released in 1986 / Reissue 2024

Tracklist:

A1 Sea, Swallow Me

A2 Memory Gongs

A3 Why Do You Love Me?

A4 Eyes Are Mosaics

B5 She Will Destroy You

B6 The Ghost Has No Home

B7 Bloody And Blunt

B8 Ooze Out And Away, Onehow