Cate Le Bon: Cyrk II – review

Welsh pastoral-folk songwriter Cate Le Bon recorded 15 tracks for her second album, Cyrk, but only 10 made the final version, released earlier this year to some acclaim . The remaining five have now been bundled together as Cyrk II, the rationale being that they're distinctly different from the parent LP. Well, yes and no. While Cyrk was full of jangle and psych-pop flourishes, Cyrk II is a gentler, dreamier thing that feels more directly inspired by the "wild, beautiful" Hebridean isle of Eigg , where she holidayed before recording. That apart, however, Le Bon is still the same heavy-lidded purveyor of enigmatic lyrics, making this EP an obvious companion piece to Cyrk. The songs drift and bob along in their own time, helmed by Le Bon's lulling voice, which turns even itchy or jagged thoughts ("And moving kills me, and it sets me on fire") into lullabies. It's lovely stuff, and would sound sublime as the sun came up over Glastonbury's Green Fields, but by the time the fuzzy guitar squalls on Seaside, Lowtide roll around, they make a welcome contrast.