As bassist for the Cocteau Twins, Simon Raymonde was involved with some of the greatest records ever laid to wax, though as evidenced in Facing the Other Way: The Story of 4AD, those records probably would have been made with or without him (as some of them indeed were). Since the Cocteuas’ disbandment, he’s kept a low profile, working, with the exception of one solo record and a couple other projects, behind the scenes as head of the Bella Union label. It is this role, however, that led him to Stephanie Dosen, his accomplice in Snowbird. After Raymonde released a solo album by the singer on Bella Union in 2007, the two eventually conspired to collaborate across the seas (Raymonde lives in London and Dosen is from North Carolina), with the result being Moon, released, of course, on Bella Union.

Comparing Dosen’s voice to Cocteau Twins chantreuse Elizabeth Fraser is inevitable, if unfair—who can compare to “the voice of God,” as Fraser was once called? Still, it’s hard not to be reminded of Raymonde’s former bandmate when listening to leadoff “I Heard the Owl Call My Name.” Here, Dosen’s multi-layered soprano is matched to chiming guitars and mechanized beats that also recall Raymonde’s past work. But with Simon having composed the majority of the album on a newly acquired grand piano, the lion’s share of the record is a minimal mix of acoustic instruments. (If one wanted to compare it to a Cocteau Twins’ record, Victorialand would be the most apt, which is ironic because Raymonde didn’t play on it.) As such, this is much quieter and more reserved music, and Dosen and Raymonde have given Snowbird a firm identity of its own. “Porcelain” is enchantingly intimate, a mix of piano, voice, and muted synthetic strings. Much of the record continues in this vein, just a mix of two or three elements, before “Heart of the Woods” ends the album much as it began, utilizing drum machine beats and phased guitars, but with horns added to the mix this time. Few artists could live up to a legacy like that of the Cocteau Twins, but aided by a muse in Dosen, Raymonde has successfully stepped out of that large shadow.