Cocteau Twins Reform

Cocteau Twins, whose distinctly ethereal and gossamer sound virtually defined the enigmatic image of the record label 4AD, announce that they will play Coachella Valley Music Festival on Saturday, April 30, sharing the stage with Coldplay, Bauhaus, Weezer, and more. Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde will take the stage as Cocteau Twins for the first time since 1996.

While details of other shows are still being worked out, Cocteau Twins hope to play a series of festivals and other exclusive events beginning in June and continuing into the Fall.

Coachella promoter Paul Tollet, who was instrumental in booking Pixies for last year's festival said, "With Cocteau Twins, I just kept persevering. Their booking agent helped me with Pixies, and this year he helped me with Cocteau Twins."

"The Cocteau Twins' music has an infinite, timeless beauty, and their influence on so many of today's top artists is clearly evident," said the band's agent William Morris' Marc Geiger. "They were always one of my personal favorite bands, and I'm very excited about seeing them on stage in concert again."

The often mysterious, sometimes media-shy Cocteau Twins have been influential in not only defining the post-punk sound of the 1980s, but responsible for entire genres of music in the 1990s and beyond. Cocteau Twins have had such a cult following since disbanding in 1998 that cover bands and fans have gathered at the annual CocteauFest to play the band's music, watch their videos, and meet like-fans from all over the world.

In the last few years, each has been hugely active in many areas of music and film and has experienced individual success. Fraser is featured on the "Lord Of The Rings" soundtracks and has collaborated with artists such as Massive Attack, Peter Gabriel and most recently, the composer Yann Tiersen. Guthrie and Raymonde formed the record label Bella Union which Raymonde now runs (roster includes The Dears, Explosions In The Sky, Laura Veirs); Raymonde has also been quite active as a producer with two hot new UK bands, The Duke Spirit and The Open.

Guthrie released his first instrumental album "Imperial" in 2003, continues to create new music and tour with his band Violet Indiana, and is involved with music production and film scoring, and just completed the soundtrack album for the upcoming Gregg Araki film "Mysterious Skin," due out this summer.

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