Managing to quietly sell fifty thousand copies of their last album Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons and build up a highly dedicated fan base in the process with little help from the music press is quite an achievement. Blonde Redhead’s mix, courtesy of their Italian and Japanese roots gently simmered in the musical melting pot that is New York, is uniquely mesmeric. The rich strings, the breathy vocals, the layers of guitars and percussion all build into crescendos of delicate intensity. Tracks like the album’s opener Elephant Woman and Anticipation immediately immerse you in the wistful cinematic soundscape Blonde Redhead have created. Where they decide to take it up a notch, as in Maddening Cloud and Equus, we find they can create brilliant (if left field) pop songs that have just the right measure of hooks to succeed without overplaying any part.

Hearing Misery Is A Butterfly makes it much easier to understand how they have sold so many records, so quietly. Quality always sells.

Label: 4AD
Release date: 15th March 2004

Tracklist:

1. Elephant Woman
2. Messenger
3. Melody
4. Doll Is Mine
5. Misery Is A Butterfly
6. Falling Man
7. Anticipation
8. Maddening Cloud
9. Magic Mountain
10. Pink Love
11. Equus