“We made two tapes, and I went to London with them and I gave one to Ivo and one to John Peel. We had no phone, so I wrote down the number of the phone box down the road and ‘call between five and six’ on the cassette case, and I’d wait outside every night for a call! There wasn’t a doubt in my mind they’d both ring. John Peel wrote us back a nice letter saying that it was really good and everything, and Ivo phoned us and said, ‘Hey, wanna come and make a record?’ It was sort of…we were sort of naïve and into what we were doing so much that we almost sort of expected, you know… We just sort of expected it. ‘Of course we want to make a record! We’re fucking good!’ You know…no trouble.” Robin Guthrie
Garlands
- September 1982
- 4AD
- CAD 211
- 32 min, 22 sec
Track listing
- Blood Bitch
- Wax and Wane
- But I’m Not
- Blind Dumb Deaf
- Shallow Then Halo
- The Hollow Men
- Garlands
- Grail Overfloweth
Peel Sessions
Available on CD and audio cassette versions
- Dear Heart (featuring Gordon Sharp)
- Hearsay Please
- Hazel (featuring Gordon Sharp)
- Blind Dumb Deaf
Previously unreleased
Available on CD and audio cassette versions
- Speak No Evil
- Perhaps Some Other Aeon
Available formats
- Vinyl
- Cassette
- CD
- Digital
Performers
Release notes
- Produced by Ivo and Cocteau Twins.
- All titles written by Cocteau Twins.
- Engineered by Eric and John at Blackwing Studios.
- Thanks to Ivo, Vince and Nigel.
- Art direction, design and photography by 23 Envelope.
- CADC211 (cassette) and CAD211CD (CD) featured additional Peel Session tracks “Dear Heart,” “Hearsay Please,” “Hazel,” and “Blind Dumb Deaf,” as well as previously unreleased tracks “Speak No Evil” and “Perhaps Some Other Aeon.”
- Additional Peel Session vocals on “Dear Heart” and “Hazel” by Gordon Sharp of Cindytalk and This Mortal Coil.
- Lyrics from “But I’m Not,” “Shallow then Halo,” “Garlands,” and “Grail Overfloweth” are printed on the inner sleeve of the vinyl release.
- “Speak No Evil” and “Perhaps Some Other Aeon” were originally intended as a single and b-side, but were shelved in favor of the full album.
- The bonus Peel Session tracks on the original compact disc and audio cassette releases have the songs “Hearsay Please” and “Hazel” listed out of order.
- A remixed version of “Wax and Wane” is available on the 1985 release The Pink Opaque.
- Peel Session recordings were later released as part of BBC Sessions, in 1999. “Dear Heart” and “Hearsay Please” have never been released as studio recordings.
- “Wax and Wane” was performed during the 1996 Milk & Kisses Tour, remixed live by Mark Clifford.
- A remastered version of “Blind Dumb Deaf” appears on the 2000 compilation Stars and Topsoil.
- Garlands was digitally remastered and re-released by 4AD in 2003. The artwork for the first pressing of the remaster incorrectly labels the track “Blood Bitch” as “Blood Bath.” It is a typographical error that was subsequently corrected.
- Voted #59 of “Scotland’s 100 Best Rock and Pop Albums” in 2003.
- The vinyl pressing was re-released 4AD in 2010 as part of a special remastered 180g box set.
- In 2020, 4AD re-released Garlands with remastered audio pressed to 140 gram vinyl and the original 23 Envelope artwork and photography.
Listen and buy online
Video
“Wax and Wane” performed live at De Meervaart, Amsterdam, 29th January 1983.
Press
- “Cocteau Twins Announce Garlands and Victorialand Reissues”. Noah Yoo. Pitchfork. 30-Jan 2020.
- “The Fangasm: Garlands by Cocteau Twins”. Brian Coney. Drowned in Sound. 22-Sep 2017.
- “The Story of Goth in 33 Songs”. Pitchfork. 25-Oct 2017.
- “Cocteau Twins: Garlands”. Wilhelm Black. Sputnik Music. 22-Nov 2015.
- “From 4AD to Nine Inch Nails”. Tom Doyle. Sound on Sound. Jan 2006.
- “Ether Madness”. David Stubbs. Uncut. Apr 2003.
- “New 2 U: Cocteau Twins”. Bill Prince. Sounds. 11-Sep 1982.
- “Cocteau Hour”. Helen FitzGerald. Sounds. 11-Sep 1982.