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9.0
111494
9.0 |
Uncut
Cate Le bon's terrific run of form continues with what must be her best album. Print edition only
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9.0
111573
9.0 |
All Music
The album is spacious and remarkably constructed, with hidden compartments built for secret sounds that seem to unlock with repeated listenings. Easily Le Bon's most involved, risky, and satisfying material up until this point
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9.0
111492
9.0 |
Loud And Quiet
Reward is just that: the precious, well-earned outcome of patience and introspection, and the bravery to be wholly yourself
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9.0
111618
9.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
While Le Bon’s work echoes some iconic names, Reward’s songs display a quiet vehemence – her style swoons with balladry textures that aren’t just quaint, but tracks that’re are rounded with sophistication, showing Le Bon poised as ever
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9.0
112002
9.0 |
The Quietus
Reward is Cate Le Bon’s most emotionally astute record to date, and her melodic prowess is the strongest it’s ever been. With that, Reward sounds like a modern classic, because it has a longevity that very few records possess
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8.5
111684
8.5 |
Under The Radar
A sonic guide through sudden moments of unexpected isolation as she effortlessly synthesizes the ethos of outsider art with the spirit of nostalgia
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8.5
111620
8.5 |
Spectrum Culture
An album that reveals more and more of itself upon further listens
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8.4
111615
8.4 |
Pitchfork
On her fifth album, the Welsh musician is at her best. The more elaborate and eccentric her music becomes, the more she sounds like herself
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8.0
111534
8.0 |
The Guardian
Lovely, airy, occasionally rocking songs are underpinned by elliptical lyrics and seeping loneliness on Le Bon’s remarkable album
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8.0
111493
8.0 |
Exclaim
A lucid rush of avant-pop. Dreamy and sonic echoes, layered with Le Bon's sotto voce lyrics, make this her most compelling album
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8.0
111638
8.0 |
PopMatters
Offers treasures beyond the everyday realm
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8.0
111650
8.0 |
Evening Standard
This is one of Le Bon’s strongest works to date
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8.0
111576
8.0 |
The 405
A Reward, both in name and execution
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8.0
111578
8.0 |
Rolling Stone
It’s hard to go back and listen to earlier albums after Reward—the enhanced instrumentation and dreamy songwriting make this the singer’s strongest album yet
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8.0
111591
8.0 |
The FT
The Welsh singer-songwriter channels furniture making and free-spiritedness
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8.0
111601
8.0 |
The Music
Expect nothing of this album except that it will keep giving.
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8.0
111495
8.0 |
Mojo
Creatively, Reward is on point. Print edition only
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8.0
111496
8.0 |
Q
It's undoubtedly a sad voice she presents on Reward, but one that is unlike anyone else's. Print edition only
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8.0
111506
8.0 |
Clash
Whilst the seeds to Cate Le Bon’s fifth studio album might have been sown on a mountainside in Cumbria and completed somewhere between Cardiff and Los Angeles, it is more than possible that this is what has contributed to its scale of complexity. But either way, it really works
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8.0
111531
8.0 |
DIY
Entirely captivating, with just enough moments of optimism to keep you hanging on
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7.5
112131
7.5 |
Earbuddy
Another great album in the books, Reward offers a few points of frustration
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6.2
111532
6.2 |
Paste Magazine
Rather than fixing a steady gaze on our isolating and destabilizing present, Reward often taunts, pokes, glances, and winks—gestures that pester and provoke without leaving much of an impression
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