Cate Le bon - CYRK II (12" vinyl)

After my initial disappointment that she is neither French nor Simon’s daughter, I’ve been reasonably impressed with our Cate’s output of late. Its the sort of stuff that makes me look up from chopping my carrots when it appears on 6 Music. This is a mini album follow up of sorts to the impressive album ‘CYRK’ (see the link?).

Despite coming from Wales she sounds incredibly French, she sings with a sort of broken English accent which gives the whole thing an exotic air (which is not usually the first thing that comes to mind when you think about Cardiff). I’d say if I were blundering around in the dark for comparisons that it is somewhere between Stereolab and PJ Harvey - not as fluffy as the former but  not as dark and screechy as the latter so imagine a mid point between both of them and you are somewhere close. Guitars are spindly, drums splashy, song structures open ended. Occasionally it drags a little, most of the songs are slow to mid paced but its all enjoyable though lacking a bit of the pizazz of the recent full lengther.