David Cronenberg’s Wife – Bluebeard’s Room

• 10th Aug 2008

Bluebeard’s Room is the debut album by five-piece English band David Cronenberg’s Wife.

I have this album on in my car. I’m not sure what to make of it. It’s alright. I get home, and then I listen to it. Here lies the difference. I listen to it again. I can’t help myself.

The vocal stylings of Tom Mayne are more often commentary than singing. When he breaks into song he has me thinking of David Byrne. That’s no bad thing. The songs are musically well constructed. I hear some 50’s rock ‘n roll. I hear some Jeff Buckley-esque reverb heavy progressions. I hear something that reminds of a James Bond theme tune. Oddly, ‘Runaway Pram’ makes me think of 1988 FA Cup song ‘Anfield Rap’. Lyrically however, you have to really listen to it to appreciate it. Quirky. Yes. Sarcastic. Certainly. Autobiographical ? Maybe. Worryingly.

‘I do know’ asks ‘What would you think if I said I married you just to get close to your teenage daughter?’. The whole song is littered with, possibly unintentionally, witty honesty. ‘Harry The Morgue’ includes lines like ‘Harry had no personal life. He was 32 years old. Collected Stanley knifes’ before commentating on the combing of pubic hair. Slightly worrying. ‘Lucy Laveugle’ starts with ‘I am a collector of celebrity autographs. I stick pins where they live on a massive streetmap’. How the mind works…

I can’t really liken them to anyone I’ve heard before. That’s to their credit. Musically each arrangement fits comfortably with each song. Lyrically it’s as mad as a box of squirrels. Listen to this album. I mean listen to it. It’s wasted as background music.

Big question for the band though is, how do you follow it up ? Watch this space.