Cate Le Bon

Reward

Reward is just that: the precious, well-earned outcome of patience and introspection, and the bravery to be wholly yourself.

Easily Le Bon's most involved, risky, and satisfying material up until this point.

Reward’s songs bask in a timelessness, touching on nostalgia throughout its playful, freeing, and earnest style.

An album that reveals more and more of itself upon further listens, that shows complexity over time instead of forcing it directly into listeners’ laps.

Her lyricism is taught, serene, and never heavy handed, all while envisioning just enough of a world that the listener is free to complete the interpretive gesture.

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.

Welsh singer-songwriter Cate Timothy, also known as Cate Le Bon, packs a lot of punch on her fifth studio album, Reward. Her style is veiled in mysterious, hypnotic lyrics and striking instrumentals that make the listening experience feel otherworldly.

Alternating somewhere in a grey zone land of ambiguity, between dream and reality, there is an adaptability and it manifests itself in sparks of humour or deep sincerity, and between cynicism and vulnerability. The effects are profound.

‘Reward’ could feel like a slog, too bleak and weird to be truly enjoyable - but it doesn’t. It’s entirely captivating, with just enough moments of optimism to keep you hanging on.

Lovely, airy, occasionally rocking songs are underpinned by elliptical lyrics and seeping loneliness on Le Bon’s remarkable album.

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.

Le Bon’s fifth studio album Reward is a charming and moving work.

Cate Le Bon's fifth album Reward offers treasures beyond the everyday realm.

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.