Occupy The Space Like A Ribbon Untied

Cate Le Bon to the rescue with new single Heaven Is No Feeling, from seventh album Michelangelo Dying, available in September from the usual places, plus Bandcamp.

I've had about half the time that I usually have to decide on a song or artist and create a post today. So, in typical fashion, Sod's Law has muscled in and ensured that most of that time was pissed away (im)patiently waiting for browser windows to open, apps to load and files to upload, before rebooting and trying again.. 

Tim Cook, take it from me, adorning Apple's "spinning wheel of death" in the colours of rainbow does not make it any less annoying...!

Anyhoo, Cate compensates with some beguiling music, an intriguing narrative and a very meta video, directed by H. Hawkline. Oh, and a shaven head.

What a legend.

Wash Before Use

 

Horsegirl featured here for the very first time a month ago in various artists/new releases post. They're back today in their own right with the fourth (and presumably final) single to drop in advance of their album, Phonetics On and On, which arrives on Valentine's Day.

With Cate Le Bon at the controls - itself a big draw - the promo blurb enthuses that "the songs are a testament to experimenting with space and texture while maintaining a pop song at the core."

On the basis of the four pre-release songs - 2468, Julie, Switch Over and now Frontrunner - they're not wrong. The latter is the most stripped down of the bunch, an acoustic-driven number with percussive twangs and vocals that border on indifference, but which suit the narrative. 

Not groundbreaking perhaps but enjoyable nevertheless. 

Not sure I'd agree with the implicit message re: apples in the video, though. Not rinsing your apples before eating is not exactly sticking it to The Man, is it? And no, dropping your apple into a water-filled pot hole in the middle of the road does not count as 'wash before use'.

fff is available from all the usual places including Bandcamp. You can catch Horsegirl playing live in Manchester, London, Glasgow and Bristol in late June.

You Can't Put Your Hands Around It

It's not out until February 2022, but Cate Le Bon's sixth album Pompeii is available for pre-order and headline single, Running Away, was released in the middle of October. It wraps up so many reminiscent sounds and artists: NIco, Mick Karn, Anna Domino, John Foxx, Bowie, A.C. Marias, John Cale, St. Vincent, Thomas Leer, Jane Weaver; yet, as ever, Cate Le Bon makes songs as art that are unmistakeably her own. Reward was a highlight of 2019 and her production on this year's Boy From Michigan by John Grant took his songs to another level. Pompeii promises to be another rare treat.

 

In March this year, Cate performed the Reward album in full at Wales Millennium Centre for Gŵyl 2021. The performance video is directed by Gruff Rhys, is available on YouTube and is an excellent way to spend just over three quarters of an hour of your time.

Running Away (Album Version): Cate Le Bon (2021)

Reward (Full Album Performed Live In Lockdown @ Wales Millennium Centre for Gŵyl 2021 , 06 March 2021): Cate Le Bon (2021)