The Moon and the Melodies is a collaborative studio album by Scottish dream pop band Cocteau Twins and American minimalist composer Harold Budd. It was released 10 November 1986 by 4AD. The name "Cocteau Twins" did not appear on the release, which instead credited the band's three members (Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde) and Budd individually.

The Moon and the Melodies
Studio album by Harold Budd feat. Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie & Simon Raymonde
Released	10 November 1986
Genre	Ambient dream pop
Length	37:20
Label	4AD
Producer	Harold Budd, Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie, Simon Raymonde
Cocteau Twins chronology
Love's Easy Tears (1986) The Moon and the Melodies (1986) Blue Bell Knoll (1988)
Harold Budd chronology
Lovely Thunder (1986) The Moon and the Melodies (1986) Myths 3: La Nouvelle Serenite (1987)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]

A version of the track "Memory Gongs" was released on Budd's Lovely Thunder as "Flowered Knife Shadows", dedicated to Raymonde.

The phrases "bloody and blunt" and "ooze out and away, onehow" came from Fraser's lyrics on the songs "The Tinderbox (Of a Heart)" and "My Love Paramour", both from the 1983 Cocteau Twins album Head Over Heels.

Fraser sings on tracks 1, 4, 5 and 8. The saxophonist Richard Thomas of Dif Juz appeared on tracks 5, 6 and 7.