Albums to watch

CYRK

Cate Le Bon

CYRK

The Welsh singer-songwriter with a second album encompassing experimental psychedelia, alt-pop, folk and more

ADM rating[?]

7.6

Label
The Control Group
UK Release date
17/01/2012
US Release date
17/01/2012
  1. 9.0 |   Rave Magazine

    One of the most subtly unique records of the year
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  2. 8.3 |   A.V. Club

    It’s a lot of loose rhythms and knotted nostalgia, but while her peers would spend an album weaving in and out of proverbial rabbit holes, Le Bon’s kaleidoscope is firmly focused
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  3. 8.0 |   All Music

    While each track on Cyrk brings to mind somebody else (Velvet Underground, "Genesis Hall"-era Fairport Convention, Comus, Spacemen 3), Le Bon somehow manages to make it all feel surprising natural
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  4. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    At its best moments, Cyrk sounds like an edgier version of The Wicker Man soundtrack; the same sense of mystery pervades
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  5. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Quite beautiful. Print edition only

  6. 8.0 |   Q

    Each of the 10 songs are beautifully simple. Print edition only

  7. 8.0 |   BBC

    A genuinely off-kilter pop record that never feels too self-conscious or contrived
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  8. 8.0 |   The Scotsman

    This is a special record by a singular, emerging singer
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  9. 8.0 |   musicOMH

    The songwriting for Cyrk has moved to an appreciably greater level
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  10. 8.0 |   NME

    A production that makes it sound like an unearthed psych classic from 1971
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  11. 8.0 |   Art Rocker

    A marvellous record from a unique imagination
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  12. 7.7 |   Beats Per Minute

    In the same way the world took to the likes of Joanna Newsom or Neko Case, there’s something here that honest and that peculiar - it really is that intriguing
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  13. 7.6 |   Paste Magazine

    Boisterously exuberant, eccentric yet completely approachable
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  14. 7.6 |   Pitchfork

    Narcotic melodies and jangle-riff repetition
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  15. 7.5 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    A universal record of beautiful truths which has nothing to do with place or influence, it’s existential and inspiring, and it certainly doesn’t suck
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  16. 7.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    It’s the little touches that litter CYRK which make it distinctive from the work of any other singer-songwriter, colouring the record with splashes of ingenious eccentricity
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  17. 7.0 |   DIY

    For all its playful charm, ‘CYRK’ is deliciously dark: it revels in its ability to marry calmness with the uncomfortable
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  18. 7.0 |   The Fly

    Cate parades her musical ingenuity with everything from twinkling jazz piano (see ‘Greta’) to St. Vincent guitar squeals (see ‘Fold The Cloth’)
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  19. 7.0 |   Uncut

    There's much beauty amid the flux of recorders, messy analogue synths and wayward sax. Print edition only

  20. 7.0 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Le Bon maintains a careful balance with her scattered ideas, presenting an album rich in curious charm
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  21. 7.0 |   Under The Radar

    Le Bon often works with a nursery-rhyme melodic scheme, recalling such past masters of the technique as Syd Barrett and Donovan
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  22. 6.5 |   Bowlegs

    Cate Le Bon has undoubtedly made a decent record in CYRK, but it feels like her personality is diluted too often by the instrumentation and scattering of weaker songs
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Cate Le Bon: CYRK

  • Download full album for just £7.49
  • 1. Falcon Eyed £0.89
  • 2. Puts Me To Work £0.89
  • 3. Cyrk £0.89
  • 4. Julia £0.89
  • 5. Greta £0.89
  • 6. Fold The Cloth £0.89
  • 7. The Man I Wanted £0.89
  • 8. Through The Mill £0.89
  • 9. Ploughing Out Part 1 £0.89
  • 10. Ploughing Out Part 2 £0.89
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