Release Date: November 12, 2013
Initially, Mug Museum might be mistaken for a Nico or Marianne Faithfull record, but Welsh musician Cate Le Bon is a little funkier, with a more complex sound.
Her third album is mellow and engaging with a rock edge.
Each instrument isn’t doing anything terribly ridiculous, but because they occasionally are arranged like puzzle pieces that are forced to fit together, the sounds produced and arranged are a little peculiar. In other instances, everything sounds like it has a better fit. The keys tend to give each track a magical echo, while Le Bon’s vocals float over it all.
Several of the tracks begin as well-constructed entities, but by the end idle off into intentional disruption.
On “Cuckoo Through The Walls,” Le Bon begins with a slow, minimal sound, building her voice slightly as more instruments enter. Ultimately, the music becomes louder and less organized; then, when Le Bon sings, “At the drop of a hat,” the instrumentation shifts to a more delicate sound.
But “Cuckoo” isn’t the only song that takes several turns throughout its progression. “Wild” ends with a sudden shift into a wicked fast melody change that only lasts for a few seconds.
“Sisters” has a guitar-driven melody fitting for a quirky video game, before picking up into a fuller, more explosive sound at the chorus. Le Bon sings in a single flat and feminine tone, lingering at one level that contrasts the instrumentation dancing around her voice.
The title track, “Mug Museum,” closes the album. It is a piano ballad of sorts, with samples of what could be rocking chair or piano pedal creaks, and random drones and saxophones throughout. The track sounds desolate as Le Bon Sings, “In my mug museum I go/Company from echoes in my walls/I forget the details but know the warmth.”
In contrast, much of the album sounds warmer and more upbeat. Most of it is groovy and bizarre, most notably on the first two tracks, “I Can’t Help You” and “Are You With Me Now.”
At times, this sound is one dimensional. Even with Le Bon’s suitably odd songwriting, the music isn’t always as deep or complicated as one might like.
Certain tracks are beautifully quirky, but others, such as “Mirror Me” and “Wild,” feel flat. The embellishments and intricacies often work, but without them, some tracks are uninteresting on a basic level.
“Duke” is one of the tracks where the offbeat vibe works best. Its lyrical content is the typical relationship spiel—“We landscaped our legacies,” Le Bon sings—but it has three separate rhythms that cycle throughout. The first is a simple, guitar-led rhythm that blends well with the melody Le Bon’s lyrics, which shifts simply into a lighter rhythm that matches her voice word-for-word, only to finish the cycle with a high-energy chorus.
Mug Museum is indeed a sound album, and it is a little richer than Cate Le Bon’s previous releases. She has an offbeat, vintage style that listeners should take the time to explore.
Cate Le Bon – Mug Museum tracklist:
- “I Can’t Help You”
- “Are You With Me Now”
- “Duke”
- “No God”
- “I Think I Knew”
- “Wild”
- “Sisters”
- “Mirror Me”
- “Cuckoo Through The Walls”
- “Mug Museum”
