#245 Cocteau Twins, 'Heaven or Las Vegas' (1990)

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‘Heaven or Las Vegas’ was written and recorded during an incredibly tumultuous time for the band. Robin Guthrie’s cocaine habit had spiralled out of control. His partner and bandmate, Elizabeth Fraser was pregnant with their child. She and fellow Cocteau Twin, Simon Raymonde had hoped that the baby would encourage Guthrie to calm down on his drug use, but that was not to be. Raymonde’s father had just died and to top it all off, the band’s relationship with their label head at 4AD had soured as he did not get on with their new manager.

The album opens with the beautifully ethereal vocals of Fraser; her voice gently floating above the subtle electronic beats and Guthrie & Raymonde’s sparsely delayed guitar and bass respectively. The 10 songs flicked by in what felt like a moment. It’s one of those records that you just get lost in. Despite this being their most successful record, they were subsequently dropped by 4AD shortly after its release. A few years later Guthrie and Raymonde would go on to form their own successful record label, Bella Union, while Fraser would enjoy her own success post-band with her vocal contributions to Massive Attack’s ‘Mezzanine’ (most notably on ‘Teardrop’).

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