Heartache City

Audio Mixer: Nicolas Kalwill.
After years of more elaborate projects, CocoRosie's Sierra and Bianca Casady return to their roots on Heartache City. Avoiding the electronics that dominated their later albums, the duo opted for the acoustic and toy instruments that made La Maison de Mon Rêve a one-of-a-kind debut. Songs such as "Forget Me Not" build on that album's deceptively simple charms, using little more than a xylophone and a drum machine to cast a spell. Other tracks, such as the festive and romantic "Un Beso," reflect the time the Casady sisters spent recording the album in Buenos Aires. While songs like this and "Tim & Tina" reflect CocoRosie's lighthearted side, Heartache City also spends plenty of time with the dark, unsettling parts of their music. Missing children, runaways, racism, and murder are just some of the subjects the Casadys touch on in "The Tower of Pisa," "Lost Girls," and "Big & Black." As always, the beauty of the duo's music makes these moments all the more haunting. ~ Heather Phares