Cate Le Bon – AmeliasMagazine

Cate Le Bon by Sam Parr

The seemingly ever present rain was holding off as I made my way up Commercial Street, past the facade of of shiny new shops and crumbling Victorian architecture where the schizophrenic fringe of the East End blurs and the City and Shoreditch collide. I’d just been to an in-store gig by Allo Darlin’ at Rough Trade East and was en route to one of the newer venues on the block (well, in this part of town), Village Underground.

Cate Le Bon by Joseph Joyce

Inhabiting a disused railway arch and adjacent warehouse, and adorned with recycled former Tube carriages, it’s a curious setting. I’d been here once before, for some of last year’s Stag and Dagger festival, but the acoustics in the main hall had proved to be a bit of a let-down. Tonight, though, the main event was occurring in a smaller side arch, a much more intimate setting for the dark riches we were about to enjoy.

Cate Le Bon by Gilly Rochester

A former protégé of Super Furry Animals main man Gruff Rhys, I’d seen Cate Le Bon a couple of times in the past, most recently at last year’s Camden Crawl. I’d been smitten with her debut album, the psych-folk tinged Me Oh My, and she was back braving the elements to launch her follow-up, CYRK.

Cate Le Bon by Avril Kelly

Bathed in red light, and with suitably weird images projected on to the wall behind her, Le Bon took to the stage with her band. Dressed in black and with guitar in hand, she kicked off the set with the off-kilter waltz of Julia, which then segued straight into Fold The Cloth. That bewitching, lilting voice juxtaposed with the way she attacked her guitar during solos kind of sums up the music on CYRK – the unexpected is always around the corner. The majority of the set was a run through of the new album, including the chugging Falcon Eyed (imagine if the Strokes’ Last Nite had been written in Cardiff), the introspective The Man I Wanted and the unsettling Greta (complete with eerie trumpet fade out).

Cate Le Bon by Sarah Jayne Morris

A couple of older songs popped up as well, with Le Bon moving to keyboards for the woozy riff of Eyes So Bright, before the set closed with CYRK’s own finale, the gentle first part of Ploughing Out building to a full on freak out that raised the hairs on the back of the neck. The cheers of the crowd brought on the encore, before which an apparently ill Le Bon wryly remarked that she’d managed to get through the set without being sick. She then took up the keyboards for Camelo, backed only by a disconcerting animation on the wall behind her, before the rest of the band came out for a romp through Ole Spain, a cover of über-obscure (even by my standards!) early 80s New Wave band Hamsters.

With CYRK hitting the shops, and a short European tour supporting Perfume Genius in a couple of weeks, now’s the ideal time to get to know this beguiling talent.

Written by Richard Pearmain on Monday April 30th, 2012 2:54 pm

Categories ,Allo Darlin’, ,Avril Kelly, ,Camden Crawl, ,Cate Le Bon, ,CYRK, ,folk, ,Gilly Rochester, ,Gruff Rhys, ,Hamsters, ,Joseph Joyce, ,Me Oh My, ,Perfume Genius, ,Rough Trade East, ,Sam Parr, ,Sarah Jayne Morris, ,Stag and Dagger, ,Strokes, ,Super Furry Animals, ,Village Underground

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Neil Davidge by Gemma Cotterell

Neil Davidge by Gemma Cotterell.

Bristol based producer Neil Davidge has worked with the likes of Sandie Shaw, Cate Le Bon, Karima Francis and many others to produce a stunning debut album. Slo Light came out last month and builds upon an action packed career, which includes highlights such as co-writer and producer for Massive Attack, score composer of Halo 4 and collaborations with David Bowie, Snoop Dog, Damon Albarn, Primal Scream and Mos Def. The album is deeply-schooled in Bristol beats, electronica, soundtracks, orchestral music and more, creating a fantasy world in which tension, darkness and beauty find the perfect equilibrium. I asked Neil about the creation of Slo Light...

Neil Davidge portrait

How did you pull together such an amazing roster of artists to work with?
It took a fair amount of patience and belligerence. I didn’t want to accept anyone with a good voice who could spell their name correctly. The list of potential collaborators grew over the course of the last 10 years, some I’d met whilst working with Massive (Attack) and some I bumped into in train stations. On each occasion meeting the people I’d eventually ask to sing I felt a connection that went beyond a purely musical appreciation and gravitated towards those I could talk about life and love and who I felt were tapped into something beautiful other than music.

Gallant Foxes feat. Cate Le Bon.

What were your ambitions when you set out to make this album?
For it to be honest and unguarded. I don’t find it easy to be authentic in my daily life, much of the time I find myself being polite and accepting stuff I really should take issue with. The studio is the one place where I feel brave enough and selfish enough to stand my ground and expect better of the world and myself. I also wanted to make it quickly (comparatively, the last album I made took 7 years).

Neil Davidge by Simon McLaren

Neil Davidge by Simon McLaren.

Can you describe the Bristol music scene in 2014, who do you hang out with and where would we find you making music and finding inspiration?
I hang out with Drew with who I made the album and works with me on most of my projects, and Tom, our wipper-snapper programmer… 7 days a week, sometimes 17+ hours a day in the studio. It’s a rare occurence for me to stray further than the 4 walls of our converted loft apartment studio or my house on the edge of the city. I’d love to tell you about the current Bristol music scene but I’d bet you good money that you know more about it than me.

Who were your biggest influences in your formative years on the music scene?
I’d have to go further back than when I first started making music, back to childhood, hearing Bowie, Debussy, the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, that stuff gave me a measure for what’s worthy I still use today. When I began playing my tastes shifted slightly, listening to bands like The Pop Group, Gang Of Four and A Certain Ratio, but I’m influenced by pretty much everything I hear, including sounds that are not traditionally considered ‘music’, in some way or other and always have been.

Sleepwalking feat. EMI Green.

What is the secret to good production (any tips)?
Wow, If I knew the answer to that one… Working really fucking hard, staying open minded and listening to my gut is how I do it. I’m envious of those who seem to have it sussed but I’m sure that’s me being hard on myself. When it comes down to it I’d guess no-one achieves and sustains a successful and creatively exciting career without a lot of effort and many sleepless nights.

What underground artists do you recommend for us to look out for in the coming years?
I don’t know how ‘underground’ they are. I’m currently listening to Benoit Pioulard, Low Roar (who sang on ‘Home From Home’ on my album), Stars Of The Lid and Emptyset (from Bristol).

DAVIDGE SLO LIGHT

Slo Light by Neil Davidge is out now on 7Hz Recordings.

Written by Amelia Gregory on Tuesday April 1st, 2014 6:15 pm

Categories ,7Hz Recordings, ,A Certain Ratio, ,Beatles, ,Benoit Pioulard, ,Bowie, ,bristol, ,Cate Le Bon, ,damon albarn, ,David Bowie, ,Debussy, ,EMI Green, ,Emptyset, ,gang of four, ,Gemma Cotterell, ,Halo 4, ,Karima Francis, ,Low Roar, ,Marvin Gaye, ,Massive Attack, ,Mos Def, ,Neil Davidge, ,Primal Scream, ,Sandie Shaw, ,Simon Mclaren, ,Slo Light, ,Snoop Dog, ,Stars Of The Lid, ,The Pop Group

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