Album Review: Cate Le Bon – Reward

Narratives of success frequently imply a certain inevitability. The potential is there from the beginning; the hard work invariably pays off; the labour revealed to be worthwhile all along. However, for Welsh musician and producer Cate Le Bon, the word ‘reward’ has sinister connotations when the relationship between the giver and the receiver is more closely considered. What is the price of what has been given, under what conditions, and on whose terms?

Le Bon has been releasing music under her own name for over a decade now, maintaining an artistic vision that seems suspicious of narratives that entertain audiences with endings in the first place. “Last time for all time gone,” she sings on Home To You, a song ostensibly about the endless effect of time on remembrance. These songs are multi-faceted, possessing the capacity to hold multiple meanings while also embracing ambiguity as a meaning in itself.

If a narrative must be given to this non-narrative work, though, Reward is Le Bon’s fifth record to date, and is another high-water mark in her evolution as an artist. It’s nimble and intriguing, with more electronic sounds than her previous work. Expect nothing of this album except that it will keep giving.