Miranda Sex Garden – “Gush Forth My Tears”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today I’d like to share with you a really old piece performed by the  eccentric English group with an equally eccentric name – Miranda Sex Garden. – Currently they are best known as a Gothic metal act, but they weren’t always that way. Initially, Miranda Sex Garden was a trio of madrigal singers who were studying vocal music together. The group consisted  of Katharine Blake (who later  founded mediæval Bæbes which band I also used to quite like as a teenager), Jocelyn Montgomery and Kelly McCusker. They released their debut album, Madra, in 1991. After that, their lineup changed frequently, and their style evolved  as a result. Only Katharine Blake has been with the band from the beginning until now.

   I was first introduced to Miranda Sex Garden thanks to Last.fm, when I was really into Gothic stuff. So at the time, I was more drawn to their later music. Since my Gothic fascinations have faded, my tastes have changed a little and my values have become stronger and more stable, I hadn’t been listening to them until I re-discovered Madra a couple months ago, however I’m not even sure if we can talk about re-discoveries here because I don’t recall ever listening to it back in my Gothic era. I probably didn’t find it particularly fun back then. But when I listened to it this year, I found it very interesting and a LOT better than their later work, which no longer resonates with me at all. Although I still definitely respect their quirkiness and musical competence.  I guess you could say that just like Miranda Sex Garden have gone through quite an evolution over time, so have I as a listener, except in the opposite direction. People really do change, hehe. 

   The whole Madra album consists almost entirely of madrigals and other traditional material from 18th century or earlier. The only non a capella track on the album is the remix of Gush Forth My Tears, which is described as a “madrigal with a beat”. While I absolutely LOVE quirky music, I have to say that to me, the combination sounded quite disgusting and not intriguingly eccentric. The beat gave it a trashy, Enigma-like feel, in my opinion. But, perhaps I’m just weird because apparently it became quite popular in clubs or something. So no, it’s not that dreadful remix of this song that I’m sharing, but the a Capella version which is absolutely stunning and chill-inducing.