Kokopelli
Kosheen
2003: BMG/Arista 82876527232
This one’s new to my collection as of early December 2004, and I’m still listening to it and processing my reactions and thoughts about it, so I don’t have much to say about it just yet…. Still, I can at least acknowledge that I decided it was worth checking out Kosheen’s second CD after spending some serious time considering their first one, and I don’t feel at all disappointed.
It’s just a different experience, one immediately identifiable (in retrospect) as a collection of songs of a certain theme, just as the first album was, although the two albums’ themes were of different worlds: Resist was richly layered DJ stuff immensely enhanced by the addition of unexpectedly touching vocals singing apologies and regrets, while Kokopelli seems to be largely Sian’s significant acknowledgement of her young son’s impact on her life. I can’t think of another album I’ve heard that was so influenced by the role of a child, and while I would expect this to make me cringe and roll my eyes and hit the Next Track button a lot, it’s actually enjoyable because the songs aren’t all “oh I have a baby now, everything’s great because he’s here,” they’re commentaries on the changes this child has wrought on various lives simply by being.
Mind you, I’m still exploring this album…I may change my mind about that. For now, the most challenging to decipher is “Suzy May,” if only to grasp what its inspiration was. The sound overall is maturing and developing, and the vocals are gaining prominence…it’s nice and kind of exciting to hear this sound developing, really.
Comments © 2005 Mark Ellis Walker, except as noted, and no claim is made to the images and quoted lyrics.