‘The Mystery of Marie Roget’ – Je Suis Animal
From Self Taught Magic From A Book (Angular)
Have you read The Mystery Of Marie Roget? Edgar Allan Poe. It was the sequel to The Murders On The Rue Morgue and is regarded as being the first detective fiction story to be based on a true case (and to its very great credit it didn’t involve an orang-utan). The thing is, time has not been particularly kind to Poe’s detective stories. They have ended up being historically important, but ultimately rather dull works. For sure, we should applaud them for setting in motion one of the finest genres of literature, but compared to what came later, they are pale and meagre feasts. Nevertheless, chapeau, to Norwegian quirk-pop troubadours Je Suis Animal for making such a charming and informed reference on this, the standout track from their standout debut set Self-Taught Magic From a Book. With half a foot in the roots of the dreaded land of twee, it would have been easy to cast Je Suis Animal as another bunch of fey Scandinavian dreamers. In truth they emerged dark and strange, casting long shadows in the icy forests, conjuring psychfolkpop dreams in the vein of the once rather ravishing Popinjays whistling down the wind with Pauline Murray And The Invisible Girls.
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