Heaven or Las Vegas

Cocteau Twins built a sound nobody else had: Robin Guthrie's guitar washed in so much effect it sounds like a synthesizer, over which Elizabeth Fraser sings in a voice of staggering range and almost no recognizable words. She used language as pure sound, syllables chosen for how they feel rather than what they mean. Heaven or Las Vegas, made in 1990 while the couple's relationship and addictions were falling apart, is the warmest and most accessible thing they ever did, which makes the trouble behind it easy to miss.