House of Cosy Cushions

House Of Cosy Cushions - Palace For The Lost Ones

House Of Cosy Cushions were once known as 'Amsterdam's best kept secret'. When its creator and driving force Richard Bolhuis moved to Dublin back in 2005 and formed a new House Of Cosy Cushions, with a new and more intense Irish band around him, the alternative music scene in Ireland witnessed a band hitting the ground running, exploding onto the Dublin rock scene.

They make their debut Irish EP release with 'Palace For The Lost Ones', released this October 31st. I received an advance copy from SeaDog Records recently and have been enjoying the listen. The influence which jumps out at me first is Nick Cave, in the vocals, the tone and some of the undercurrent themes, but this is a band best described as 'different'. I could throw in a spread of other influences to include The Velvet Underground and perhaps some of early dEUS, but would miss the mark. What you get with House Of Cosy Cushions is a vibrancy, a chaos of sorts, rock n'roll with a blues trombone, melancholy and mystery, menace and tension.

The lead track from 'Palace For The Lost Ones' is immense. I didn't know what to make of it for the first 80 seconds or so, as it ghosts almost directionless with haunting creaks and scattered trombone before the song emerges from the wilderness with raw headstrong directness 'Sad battered donkey thinks he's in a hospital...' this is a track laced with gothic menace. Guitars weigh in to add crunch to clamor and by the grande finale, I'm hitting '<<' to listen again. As for the rest of the EP, you get the perky and poppy 'Goodybe Tiger' which is the stand-out radio track on the EP, through to the beautifully haunting 'Up and Down The Hill', followed by two live tracks; a delicate and somber folk number in 'Flow' and the rousing rock of 'She's Not Your Witch', all encompassing shows the creative and chaotic dynamics that make up House Of Cosy Cushions. An excellent EP.

- TK @ Frequency-Ireland

'When a band comes from Amsterdam, you’d probably expect a degree of chilled-out weirdness, and the wonderfully-named House Of Cosy Cushions don’t disappoint. If they wanted to stand out from the crowd, then relocating to Dublin has certainly helped their cause.
Songwriter Richard Bolhuis cleverly combines innate pop sensibility with grand neo-classical scope, setting it all off with a twist of mystical folk spookiness. The results are brassy, organic compositions, which seem to grow out of the darkness like branches of a gnarled tree.
Enhanced by guest appearances from Cathy Davey and Cora Venus Lunny, songs like Naked As Pain, Animal Dream and the addictive She’s Not Your Witch capture the attention. A beautiful, bewitching experience.' (Johnnie Craig, the Post)


- The Post

'House of Cosy Cushions have an almost fragile darkness about them, like a brittle chocolate that’s breaks apart on touch...'Animal Dream' lives in the unorthodox songwriting of Richard Bolhuis, who was apparently never told songs aren’t supposed to sound this way so, unaware, he went and made it work.
And yes it works - and works well. Each song is a delicate collection of elements which shouldn’t go together but somehow are a darkly beautiful mix that you’re afraid to touch for fear of it shattering. It’s not an album to put on at your next house party - rather, it’s an album to put on in times of introspection and deep thought. It’s challenging to be sure, but rewarding.
Me being me, my favorite off the album is the more uptempo 'She Dances'...but I’d be remiss in my album-reviewer duties if I didn’t point out the beauty of the opening chord progression in 'Come Dance', the ethereal backing vocals in 'Angel Glow', the deranged Western feel of 'Animal Dream', the menacing playful horn in 'She’s Not Your Witch', the weaving violin riff in 'Good Old Love'. 'Animal Dream' is filled with such moments - little snapshots of an upside down world gone right, mismatched parts that, in one unpredictable instant, become a complete and beautiful picture.' (Keath, rocksellout.com)

- rocksellout.com

Review Hotpress (November 2007)

WELCOME TO THE PLUSHER DOME

SINGLE OF THE FORTNIGHT - HOUSE OF COSY CUSHIONS ’PALACE FOR THE LOST ONES’

HOCC presents us with a set of expertly crafted, minimalist works on this EP, conjuring up a hauntingly dark vaudevillian atmosphere throughout. Title track ’Palace for the Lost Ones’ is excellent, but if anything ’Up and Down the Hill’ is even better, channeling Nick Cave at his most compelling. The trombone flourishes are an interesting, love-it-or-hate it touch, which on paper shouldn’t really work but trust me, they do. In addition to the three studio cuts, two live tracks add to the raw, authentic feel and provide further evidence of bandleader Richard Bolhuis’ prodigious talent.



- Hot Press

One of the most impressive albums I've heard this year is released on Friday. House of Cosy Cushions - led by Dublin-based Dutchman Richard Bolhuis - have been together for three years, and their debut, Animal Dream, is something of a triumph. It's a very unusual collection of dark love songs that echoes influences such as PJ Harvey, The Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Captain Beefheart. - News of the World

Dublin- based Dutchman gives Nick Cave a run for his money.
It doesn't usually happen this way. Ireland has a history of exporting talented musicians and sending them on their way in the big bad world, but rarely do we import acts intent on carving out a niche for themselves in our little corner of the globe. When Dutchman Richard Bolhuis moved to Ireland in 2005 and started taking his role as a band leader seriously, what followed was an impressive EP (Palace for the Lost Ones), and now comes the quartet's full-lenghth debut 'Animal Dream'.
Much has been made of the parallels between House of Cosy Cushions and The Bad Seeds - but if it's a predictable comparison, it's also an accurate one. These are dark, pensive alt-rock songs, cloaked in a wispy veil of menace and atmosphere, and Bolhuis shares the same songwriting shrewdness as Cave - best exemplified on the minimal groove of 'Good Old Love', or the sublime instrumental 'Jaunt', both of which are crafted in a simplistic-but-stylish manner.
There are constituents of Calexico (the brisk Americana of 'Animal Dream') and even Soulwax (the poppy 'She's Not Your Witch') here, too, while the likes of Cathy Davey and Cora Venus Lunny join the ranks at various points, adding as much texture to the songs as the hellish violins, spluttering harmonica and portentous trombone intervals. There's nothing cosy or cushioned about this house; if anything, this is a vaguely disconcerting record that furtively lures the listener out of their comfort zone. Like all the best ones, really. (Lauren Murphy) - Hot Press