Beware bands bearing cute and quirky names – Dutch/Irish collaborative effort House of Cosy Cushions have just released an album that is as far removed from cosy as you could possibly get.
Haunt Me Sweetly is an album of dark and sinister hymns - thirteen songs of creeping malevolence that stay with you long after the last notes have faded away. House of Cosy Cushions formed in 2004 and have existed as a loose collective ever since –the core group of four musicians are joined by a variety of guest players who drift in and out as and when needed. Led by Dutch-English songwriter Richard Bolhuis, this is their third album and it is a striking collection of haunting, atmospheric chamber pop. The record is liberally sprinkled with short, dirge-like instrumental pieces, which add to the pervading sense of dread as the album progresses.
Haunt me Sweetly is similar in mood and atmosphere to early Tindersticks records and there are faint echoes of Big Stars seminal Third/Sister Lovers album to be found in many of these songs.
‘Outcast Cats’ is an early highlight sounding surprisingly like a rough and ready version of Luke Haines’ 90s indie kingpins The Auteurs; title track ‘Haunt Me Softly’ glides along at a funereal pace, a glacial lament that acts as a calling card for what the Cosy Cushions do best.
The more conventional ‘Wings’ is a welcome respite from the darkness of some of the earlier tracks before we plunge back into the abyss that is ‘Green Eyes Blazing’ - a downright creepy number built on subtle drones and quietly deranged vocals. The gypsy tinged viola of ‘Flood’ introduces one of the more guitar heavy songs on the record while the album closes with the brief and melodic ‘I Found a Place’; its plucked banjo and sparse melody not dissimilar to some of Sufjan Stevens early work.
Haunt Me Sweetly further enhances the reputation of House of Cosy Cushions as a band with a unique vision but it is not without its faults. The many brief, instrumental interludes prevent the album from gathering any real momentum, while some of the songs end just as they seem to be building up a head of steam – the track ‘Wings’ being the most glaring example. Leaving that aside, Haunt Me Sweetly is dark, unsettling and uncomfortable in the best possible way making this House of Cosy Cushions well worth exploring.
Review by Paul Page
