The Green sisters—Elsa and Phaedra—and producer/instrumentalist Ryan Graveface once again take on their dark The Casket Girls persona to release their sophomore album, True Love Kills the Fairy Tale.
Urban music folklore has it that Graveface dropped off the instrumentals at the sisters' home one night and returned to find them in a trancelike state—crying and ferociously scribbling lyrics. When they met later in the week to record, the sisters said they had no recollection of writing the album.
Whether this is a true story or a clever marketing tactic, the tale fits perfectly with the album. The tracks are eerie and depressing in an absolutely mesmerizing way, and tracks such as “Same Side,” “Chemical Dizzy” and “Stone & Rock” have a meditative chant feel that allow you to imagine you're either right there in the room crying and writing with the sisters or on a completely different planet immersed in your own thoughts.
On the other hand, tracks like “True Love Kills the Fairy Tale” and “Perfect Little Soul” are raw and believable heartbreakers that come from a place of emotional vulnerability. Matched with Graveface's synthetic beats and the girls' soft yet powerful voices, the lyrics are conveyed in a way that makes you feel sad and hopeful at the same time.
Oddly enough, I think Butters says it best in an old episode of South Park: “Well yeah, and I'm sad, but at the same time I'm really happy that something could make me feel that sad…And the only way I could feel this sad now is if I felt somethin' really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good, so I guess what I'm feelin' is like a beautiful sadness.” Yes, True Love Kills the Fairytale is like a beautiful sadness.
Had the album gone any longer than 10 three to four minute tracks, it could have gotten pretty tiresome, what with the chanting and lazy, drawn-out production. However, the length and overall feel of the album give it just the right aesthetic to succeed.
Rating: A-
