Show Preview: Cate Le Bon AT Mississippi Studios
Welsh psych-rock singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon hits up Mississippi Studios on Jan. 18 for Round Two of her epic transatlantic tour promoting Crab Day, her fourth full-length release. This most recent offering, with its playful, almost innocent vocals and angular, unpredictable guitar melodies, hits most of the same pleasure points as 2013’s Mug Museum, but with a little more emphasis on the dissonant side of Le Bon’s palette. If nostalgia is the currency of choice in the American underground, Le Bon trades well in analog era tonality without falling into the trap of mimicking tired pop structures and genre clichés.
(After this, do your self and favor and watch the album’s companion short film directed by Phil Collins. You won’t regret it.)
Le Bon will be accompanied by Tim Presley, most known for the freaky bedroom psych of White Fence. Presley’s recently released solo debut, The Wink, however, is a departure from his previous work. Le Bon served as producer on The Wink, and perhaps she helped to encourage the post punk minimalism that shines through stronger than Presley’s usual ’60s garage-psych influences.
Le Bon and Presley are deeply intertwined as artists, both orbiting complimentary stars inhabiting the same sonic universe. They’re close enough to share some elements, but far enough away to be interesting in the same space. Both artists are worth seeing on their own, and should certainly not be missed together.
– Christopher Klarer
