It is difficult to put Cate Le Bon’s music in one category – art-glam, punk, dadaist – all of these seem fair game as descriptors for her discography. This is even more the case regarding her LP Pompeii, released last Friday. Le Bon played every instrument (the album was mostly written on bass), and recorded the album largely by herself – and yet, for this release, she simultaneously granted herself “permission to annihilate identity.” They’re songs built for “Now,” arising from “her interests in antiquity, philosophy, architecture, and divinity’s modalities,” with the melodies to match. Though it seems to embody many different ideas, to us, Pompeii is akin to a raw diamond, where each facet, each face, shines equally as bright when the light is shined upon it.
One of those faces is the stunning “Harbour,” one of our favorite tracks from the new release. Calm yet pensive, Le Bon’s vocals frolic adjacent to poppy, synth-powered instrumentals, somehow both ‘80’s inspired and modern all at once. The lyrics speak to the idea of the interplay between soft and coarse, light and dark: “What you said was nice / When you said my face turned a memory,” Le Bon reminisces, “What you said was nice / When you said my heart broke a century.” It’s a palate refresher for the more experimental, punk tracks on Pompeii, a metallic pastel dream.
Pompeii is out now.
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photo courtesy of artist
kid with a vinyl 