“Me and Liz decided we were just going to do some tracks with just acoustics and voice as our limitations.” Robin Guthrie
Victorialand
- April 1986
- 4AD
- CAD 602
- 32 min, 47 sec
Track listing
- Lazy Calm
- Fluffy Tufts
- Throughout the Dark Months of April and May
- Whales Tails
- Oomingmak
- Little Spacey
- Feet-Like Fins
- How to Bring a Blush to the Snow
- The Thinner the Air
Formats
- Vinyl
- Cassette
- CD
- Digital
Performers
Release notes
- Produced by Cocteau Twins.
- All titles written and performed by Robin Guthrie and Elizabeth Fraser.
- Richard Thomas plays saxophone and tablas courtesy of Dif Juz.
- Art direction and design by 23 Envelope.
- Victorialand reached #10 on the UK albums chart.
- An instrumental version of “Oomingmak” was released with the 1991 EPs and Singles Box Set.
- “Lazy Calm” and “Whales Tails” have been performed live since their release.
- “Oomingmak” was performed live with a new arrangement by Elizabeth Fraser during her Meltdown Festival solo performances in 2012.
- An ambient remix of “Feet-Like Fins,” by Mark Clifford, appears on the 1995 EP Otherness.
- “Lazy Calm” and “The Thinner the Air” appear on the 2000 compilation Stars and Topsoil.
- Victorialand was digitally remastered and re-released by 4AD in 2003.
- In 2020, 4AD re-released Victorialand with remastered audio pressed to 140 gram vinyl and the original 23 Envelope artwork and photography.
- The title takes its name from a land mass in Antarctica. Some song titles were inspired by David Attenborough’s 1984 programme and book “The Living Planet.”
Listen and buy online
Videos
Press
- “Cocteau Twins Announce Garlands and Victorialand Reissues”. Noah Yoo. Pitchfork. 30-Jan 2020.
- “Cocteau Twins: Victorialand”. Sputnik Music. 22-May 2016.
- “Ether Madness”. David Stubbs. Uncut. Apr 2003.
- “That Which Cannot Be Spoken: Divining the Heavenly Sound of Cocteau Twins”. Stephen Dark. Option: Music Alternatives. May/Jun 1987.
- “A British Trio Creates Haunting Melodies”. Dave Rimmer. Detour. Dec 1986.
- “Review of Victorialand”. Ted Mico. Melody Maker. 16-Aug 1986.
- “Waking Dreamers”. Ted Mico. Melody Maker. 03-May 1986.
- Untitled. Jamming. May 1986.
- “Ooh, Baby”. Mat Snow. NME/New Musical Express. 12-Apr 1986.
- “Christmas with the Cocteaus”. Barney Hoskyns. Jan 1986.
- “Cocteau Cabinet”. Chris Roberts. Sounds. 04-Jan 1986.