The clever counterpart to the
Twinlights EP was its near-exact artistic opposite; while
Twinlights showcased stripped-down, acoustic piano-led songs,
Otherness was a series of four radical remixes by an outside performer, the first and only time
the Cocteaus would let anyone do that. Said performer,
Mark Clifford, had come to
the Twins' attention leading the group
Seefeel, leading to a strong friendship with
Guthrie and thus the remix opportunity, with Clifford very much bringing his crisp, haunting electronic style to the proceedings. Two songs from the not yet released
Milk and Kisses, "Violaine" and "Seekers Who Are Lovers," were treated here, along with two older songs,
Victorialand's "Feet-Like Fins" and
Heaven or Las Vegas' "Cherry Coloured Funk." "Feet-Like Fins" understandably gets the strongest makeover, its lush acoustic guitars turned into high-pitched drones and loops over a slow electronic beat as snippets of
Fraser float around the mix. The two
Milk and Kisses tracks aren't that much more recognizable either. "Seekers Who Are Lovers" keeps distorted shreds of the guitar wash, sampled and given different pitches, over echoing rhythms,
Fraser's vocals completely rearranged. "Violaine" preserves her main lyric, interestingly enough, but otherwise the music again favors deep bass and slow pace, with slight hints of guitar and keyboards surfacing in the background. "Cherry Coloured Funk" ends things wonderfully, a sample and loop of the song's guitar and layered vocal passages from
Fraser re-imagining
the Twins at their most blissful and beautiful.
–
Ned Raggett, Rovi