The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
| The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn | ||||
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| Studio album by CocoRosie | ||||
| Released | April 10, 2007 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 48:44 | |||
| Label | Touch and Go Records | |||
| Producer | ||||
| CocoRosie chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 60/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Drowned in Sound |   |
| The Guardian | |
| Pitchfork | (2.3/10) |
| PopMatters | |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone |  |
| Stylus Magazine | C+ |
| Uncut | |
| Under the Radar | |
The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn is the third full-length studio album by CocoRosie, released on April 10, 2007. The album received mixed reviews from critics.
CocoRosie made their preliminary recordings for The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn in a barn in the South of France that they turned into a makeshift studio. The creaking echoes and sounds of the old, wooden barn lend an otherworldly feel to the album. Running on a nocturnal schedule, the duo found inspiration their surroundings: the distant sounds of animals, the hum of nightlife around sounds of the night on an old-fashioned Dictaphone. In an interview with Electronic Musician in 2007, Bianca commented, “I feel like it added the atmosphere of a lot of songs, a lot of things you couldn't do in a proper studio. It was important for the creative process to start out in this space.”
Beatboxing was provided by the Casadys’ friends Spleen and Tez and is featured on multiple tracks, including “Promise” and “Rainbowarriors”. Additional recording and polishing was done with the help of Valgeir Sigursson, the Icelandic producer famous for his collaborations with the artist Björk.
CocoRosie’s innocent, childlike aesthetic turns their often dark subject matter of abandonment and abuse into haunting lullabies and unsettling operatic hip-hop melodies.
In the song “Werewolf” the sisters tell the story of their father, singing, “He’s a black magic wielder some say a witch”, but show their determination to move on despite the pain, repeating, “I’m a shake you off though/ Get up on the horse and/ Ride into the sunset/ Look back with no remorse”. The sister’s reinforce their will to move forward in the song “Rainbowarriors”, declaring, “We are rainbowarriors/ Evil come not near”.
The tracks “Sunshine” and “Bloody Twins” seem to speak to the sister’s memories of childhood, painting pictures of failed relations with peers along with brief glimpses of human connection. Many songs on The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn hint at past tragedies. The song “Raphael” shows the dark side of teenage sexuality with the story of a “teenage player” who knows all the right moves, but can only further damage an already shattered soul. The song ends with the pained repetition of the phrase “Don’t speak I can hear you”. Near the end of the album, the song “Miracle” pokes fun at what the sisters believe to be the unrealistic idea of a boy and a girl staying together forever.
While most of the album’s songs recall a shared girlhood and revel in a renewed sense of self, the song “Japan” makes a broader commentary on the world with lines like “Everyone wants to go to Iraq/ But once they go, they don’t come back”. Another track that stands out from the rest is “Girl And The Geese”, a spoken word track that tells the story of a girl who found she could talk to geese because “they were once human like her”. At first glance, the story may not appear to have a point, but in fact, it is a vivid depiction of how the Casady sisters see the world around them as magical and extremely personal.
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