Just as profound, unconventional, and bold as their earlier albums, CocoRosie's transformative eighth album, 'Little Death Wishes,' “distills everything CocoRosie down to its rawest core.”
by guest writer Kayleigh Schweiker
Stream: ‘Little Death Wishes’ – CocoRosie
Dressed in a blue gown, Sierra Casady sings in an operatic style while Bianca Casady produces live beside her.
A bra is tossed onto the stage from the audience – Sierra twirls it playfully above her head as a group in the center sways rhythmically. As the music transitions into one of the duo's recent singles, “Pushing Daisies,” spectators rock back and forth on a roller-skating rink transformed into a performance space. The crowd is bathed in luminescent glowsticks, creating a vibrant technicolor ambiance that reflects the essence of the sisters themselves.
At Xanadu Roller Arts on March 28, CocoRosie marked the release of their new album, Little Death Wishes, with a Jubilation Ball: An Ecstatic Tits Out Rave. In essence: An auditory banquet. Celebrated for their experimental sound, daring live shows, and for being named by The Guardian as having one of the “worst album covers of the '00s,” CocoRosie—Bianca (“Coco”) and Sierra (“Rosie”)—are recognized as multi-talented individuals leading the charge in freak folk and “New Weird America.”
Little Death Wishes – CocoRosie
Since their inaugural collaboration in 2003, CocoRosie has intricately woven themes of sisterhood, generational struggles, and heartache into music influenced by Sierra’s opera training and Bianca’s literary background. Just as impactful, quirky, and courageous as their past works, Little Death Wishes, the band's eighth album, serves as a crucial addition to the rich narrative established in their prior releases.
With two decades of musical experience behind them, Little Death Wishes “distills everything CocoRosie down to its most brutal essence.” Both ornate and theatrical, extravagant yet straightforward, the album is genre-defying and transformative while also providing a haven for “criminal queers” and motivating artists to express themselves freely.
Ahead of the release of Little Death Wishes and their jubilant Jubilation Ball, I spoke with the duo about the new album, their love for performance, and the therapeutic power of casual conversation over a plate of fries.
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:: stream/purchase Little Death Wishes here ::
:: connect with CocoRosie here ::
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Watch: “Nothing But Garbage” – CocoRosie
CocoRosie © Ginger Dunnill
A CONVERSATION WITH COCOROSIE
Atwood Magazine: It’s been five years since your last album, Put The Shine On. In what ways do you see Little Death Wishes as a continuation of your earlier work?
Sierra Casady: There’s a song on our new album, “Least I Have You,” which kind of acts as a bridge between the two records.
Bianca Casady: We also encountered some musicians while recording who were in the studio next door—amazing Texas-based musicians. They contributed to the last album and inspired us. I feel like we dug a bit deeper into funk for this record, building from Put the Shine On. With tracks like “Nothing But Garbage” and “Pushing Daisies,” we’re exploring funk more, and it took us twenty years to get to this point.
You’ve mentioned the presence of the Bloody Sisters, a character duo you include in some songs, in your previous albums. Do you feel the Bloody Sisters appear on Little Death Wishes?
Bianca: On Little Death Wishes, we’re more like the Junkie Sisters.
Sierra: The Junkie Twins. It’s a bit of a shift. Yes, that singing style is present in the first track, [“Wait for Me”], but some of the goth elements have diminished. Maybe this album showcases some emotional evolution of those characters. They’re still there, just transformed.
A significant theme throughout Little Death Wishes seems to be transformation. You’ve described the album as “an effort to turn pain into wisdom, sisterhood into debate, trash into treasure, and recalcifying kitsch and cliché into fresh truths.” How did this theme emerge, and why do you feel it resonates with CocoRosie now?
Sierra: I don’t want to oversimplify, but it likely stems from our emotional states. We’re transforming our struggles into positive feelings and addressing our experiences, speaking candidly and sometimes harshly, with the hope that from this process, our aspirations can flourish. This might have guided us in telling these stories.
CocoRosie © Ginger Dunnill
There’s a healing aspect to talking candidly, I think.
Sierra: Absolutely!
Bianca: Definitely!
It’s a delightful approach. You’ve described your artistic perspective as viewing the world through a child
The trio has referred to it as “one of the most stunning songs we’ve ever collaborated on.”
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The track follows closely behind the trio’s latest single ‘Relationships’.
Equally significant, unconventional, and bold as their earlier works, CocoRosie's groundbreaking eighth album, ‘Little Death Wishes,’ “distills everything CocoRosie to its most raw essence.”