A Reflection - Caz (Desperate Journalist) [EN]
‘A Reflection’, my space that with the support of Hispacure, the Official Fan Collective of The Cure in Spain, I ask artists and cultural agents to tell me about their favorite songs and albums of The Cure.
Caroline Helbert (aka Caz), French by birth but living in London, started out as a guitarist and singer on Yeah And She Has Red Lips Too. She later learned to play the drums on a self-taught basis for Desperate Journalist. She also plays guitar and synthesizers in another band called Medium Wave. Caz studied literature at the Sorbonne University. The literary references of The Cure (Camus, Cocteau…) was one of the reasons why she fell in love with the band.
A REFLECTION - CAZ
I discovered The Cure when I was a sad 17 year old. I was getting into goth and one day my sister noticed I’d never heard the Cure, so she lent me her cassette of 'Disintegration'. I put it in my Walkman the following day on my way to college, and it changed everything. It sounded so unique, so otherworldly, and just like everything I’d been looking for. I got to the end and played it again. And read the lyrics. I couldn’t stop playing it. I felt like I had finally found someone that understood me. They became my favourite band.
‘Disintegration’ will always be my favourite album because it was the one that made me fall in love with the band. And I love 'Faith' because it is so full of despair and loss and, as a sad and hopeless teenager, it was perfect. But I also have a special thing for ‘Bloodflowers’ because it came out as I had just discovered the band, and it was so exciting to see them in the news and see them live on that tour.
My favourite song is ‘Disintegration’ - it’s so relentless and sad. And I love how the song is carried by the way the vocals build up and get more and more intense. The music is basically the same all the way through, but it never feels repetitive and I can never believe it’s that long. I also love ‘From the edge of the deep green sea’, ‘The drowning man’, ‘A letter to Elise’ and ‘Faith’.
When I was younger The Cure´s music just seemed to reflect and express everything I felt. And it made me feel less alone I guess. Now that I’m older I also like to listen to The Cure to remember that I still am that sad and lonely romantic teenager.
The name of our band comes from John Peel's session 'Grinding Halt' version.
Our singer Jo picked it, not just for the Cure reference but it also seemed appropriately awkward and semi-ironic. A lot of people don't know the reference, but journalists usually like it.
Music Video ‘Personality Girlfriend’ where you can see several The Cure album covers -> https://youtu.be/sd7-iU-VT04
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Read more interviews-> https://www.distortiongirl.com/a-reflection/
Interview publication, November 03, 2021