33 1/3 Author Q&A: A closer look at Cocteau Twins’ Blue Bell Knoll

Welcome to our latest author Q&A, where we chat to the writers behind new and upcoming 33 1/3 books! Today Chris Tapley shares how he approached writing a book about the enigmatic Cocteau Twins.

How would you describe your book in one sentence?

It’s a reflection on Cocteau Twins’ career through the lens of Blue Bell Knoll, focusing on their complex relationship with artistic ambiguity, creative doubts, and the music industry.

What drew you to this album?

Blue Bell Knoll isn’t the most obvious Cocteau Twins album for the 33 ⅓ treatment. But when it comes to things that people associate with the band – the dreaminess, the unknowable lyrics, the dense production – BBK ticks the boxes more than any other album. It’s arguably the most Cocteau Twins.

And as the first album recorded in their own studio and the first with US distribution, it also felt like a pivotal moment in their career. This album being the result was too intriguing to not explore. I ended up writing about the band’s whole career really, just using this album as an anchor. It’s the part that represents the whole; impossible to talk about it in isolation.

If you were introducing someone to Blue Bell Knoll for the first time, what would you recommend they listen to?

The album definitely works best as a whole, so diving in is my top suggestion. And it’s only 35 minutes long. But if I had to choose one track, Carolyn’s Fingers is probably the most accessible entry point for someone new to the band.

What was it like writing the book? Did you learn anything new about the band that you didn’t know going into the project?

Reading through all the old press coverage introduced a lot of nuance to the widely-held narrative about the band’s difficult reputation. And I also uncovered a lot of interesting production details about how they managed to achieve certain sounds on this album and others.

What was the hardest part of writing this book?

Staying true to the mysteries of the music and avoiding the temptation to settle for easy answers. But I was also keen to avoid getting lost in abstract speculations about meaning or drowning in metaphor the way a lot of writing about the band does. Which wasn’t always easy.

Are there any interesting stories or points that didn’t make it into the final book?

Definitely. I had to cut a lot of tangential stuff. There were so many interesting little stories around the band’s origins and a lot of their relationship (good and bad) with 4AD that didn’t find a space here. Many more parallels with writers, filmmakers and artists who have embraced the unknown failed to make the final cut too.

If you got the chance to write a 33 1/3 on one other album – what are you picking?

It’s hard to choose just one. I’d like to choose something less mysterious, but Boards of Canada and Broadcast are the artists that come to mind first. Something which opens up enough questions to fuel a book.