Cate Le Bon - Reward

The Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon has kept busy since her last record, 2016’s delightfully titled Crab Day. Last year she spent a majority of her time in Marfa, Texas adding more pop-orientation to the latest Deerhunter record Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared? In addition to that, she collaborated again with White Fence’s Tim Presley (under the name DRINKS) for 2018’s overlooked Hippo Lite.

On her fifth album, Reward, Le Bon positions herself to finally get the adoration she’s missed out on for too long. As evidenced with the first single “Daylight Matters”, Le Bon commands a tour de force – her graceful vocals paired with 70s AM Radio guitars is the perfect combination for a leisure drive. “Home to You” feels recorded during the same sessions as Deerhunter’s latest, sprinklings of post-punk are minor but present. On the album’s opener “Miami,” Le Bon prefers long drawn out sounds, likes the bellowing saxophone that drones for the first half before moving into a more pop-oriented state. Reward isn’t the album that you’ll hear on the radio, but it’s Le Bon at her most effective pop-wise.

With “Mother’s Mother’s Magazines,” Le Bon goes full post-punk ala Siouxsie and the Banshees, something Priests did on their most recent effort The Seduction of Kansas. Both work successfully, but it’s strangely therapeutic when Le Bon does it as it keeps the flow unpredictable, a strength of Le Bon has perfected over her career. No two albums sound the same, and the samples she incorporates on Reward are endearing. As the female-fronted folk pool expands, Cate Le Bon finds herself in great company with similar artists like Aldous Harding, Julien Baker, and Jessica Pratt; even if her production is way more diverse, Le Bon packages songs like “Sad Nudes” with a purpose. The horns and the harp all feel seamless.

Reward does just what the title implies – it’s a rewarding listen to those patient enough to find the playful nature of Le Bon’s work. She’s always stood on the outskirts of folk, riding that line between baroque and psychedelic. Even if there are elements of traditional songwriting (verse/chorus/verse), Le Bon isn’t tied down to it like others are. On “You Don’t Love Me” she relays the “Never be, never be, never be” but changes trajectory often times to spice things up and makes for a 60s pop rock feel. Despite all of this, Reward still has a minimalist pop aesthetic. There’s horn sections, organs, guitar, drum loops, but none of it overpowers and instead leaves Le Bon as the soul of Reward. It’s a nurturing sound, one that she’s only improved upon over the course of her multiple albums.