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The Moon and the Melodies
Studio album by Harold Budd, Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie & Simon Raymonde
Released	10 November 1986
Genre	Ambient dream pop
Length	37:20
Label	4AD
Producer	Harold Budd, Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie, Simon Raymonde
Cocteau Twins chronology
Love's Easy Tears (1986) The Moon and the Melodies (1986) Blue Bell Knoll (1988)
Harold Budd chronology
Lovely Thunder (1986) The Moon and the Melodies (1986) Myths 3: La Nouvelle Serenite (1987)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic

The Moon and the Melodies is a collaborative studio album by Scottish dream pop band Cocteau Twins and American minimalist composer Harold Budd. It was released 10 November 1986 by 4AD. The name "Cocteau Twins" did not appear on the release, which instead credited the band's three members (Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde) and Budd individually.

A version of the track "Memory Gongs" was released on Budd's Lovely Thunder as "Flowered Knife Shadows", dedicated to Raymonde.

The phrases "bloody and blunt" and "ooze out and away, onehow" came from Fraser's lyrics on the songs "The Tinderbox (Of a Heart)" and "My Love Paramour", both from the 1983 Cocteau Twins album Head Over Heels.

Fraser sings on tracks 1, 4, 5 and 8. The saxophonist Richard Thomas of Dif Juz appeared on tracks 5, 6 and 7.

A remastered edition was released on August 23, 2024, on LP, CD and download/streaming. Guthrie handled the remastering, including updating The Ghost Has No Home to begin without a fade-in.

Track listing

All songs written by Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie, Simon Raymonde and Harold Budd.

1. "Sea, Swallow Me" – 3:10
2. "Memory Gongs" – 7:26
3. "Why Do You Love Me?" – 4:48
4. "Eyes are Mosaics" – 4:10
5. "She Will Destroy You" – 4:14
6. "The Ghost Has No Home" – 7:36
7. "Bloody and Blunt" – 2:16
8. "Ooze Out and Away, Onehow" – 3:40

Personnel

• Harold Budd – piano
• Elizabeth Fraser – vocals
• Robin Guthrie – guitar
• Simon Raymonde – bass guitar

Additional personnel

• Richard Thomas – saxophone, drums

References

1. Stepek, Peter. The Moon and the Melodies at AllMusic

• Harold Budd albums
• Cocteau Twins albums
• 1986 albums
• 1986 collaborative albums
• 4AD albums
• Ambient albums