Cate Le Bon announces new album & tour, shares "Running Away"
Cate Le Bon will be back with a new album, Pompeii, on February 4 via Mexican Summer. The album was written entirely alone, and primarily on bass, in what Cate calls an “uninterrupted vacuum,” and she plays every instrument on it except for saxophone (Euan Hinshelwood and Stephen Black) and drums (Warpaint‘s Stella Mozgawa). It’s her first since 2019’s great Reward. Tim Pressly’s painting of Cate, which hung on the wall while recording the album, was both an inspiration and would end up as the album’s cover art. See that, and the tracklist, below.
“Pompeii was written and recorded in a quagmire of unease,” Cate says. “Solo. In a time warp. In a house I had a life in 15 years ago. I grappled with existence, resignation and faith. I felt culpable for the mess but it smacked hard of the collective guilt imposed by religion and original sin.” She adds, “The subtitle is: You will be forever connected to everything. Which, depending on the time of day, is as comforting as it is terrifying. The sense of finality has always been here. It seems strangely hopeful. Someone is playing with the focus lens. The world is on fire but the bins must go out on a Tuesday night. Political dissonance meets beauty regimes. I put a groove behind it for something to hold on to. The grief is in the saxophones.”
Sax is all over the dark and slinky first single, “Running Away,” where Cate sings “It’s the sweetest thing that you never had.” The video was directed by Casey Raymond and features Cate alongside Hinshelwood on sax, and a lot of TV sets. Watch that below.
Cate has also announced a 2022 tour, which sadly is not a rescheduled version of her planned 2020 tour with Kurt Vile. These headlining dates, which are all with Mega Bog, begin February 6 in Woodstock, NY and wrap up February 26 in Pioneertown, CA. It includes two nights at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom on 2/8 & 2/9, and a stop at L.A.’s Teragram Ballroom on 2/24. Tickets go on sale Friday, October 15 and all dates are listed below.
Pompeii tracklist
1. Dirt on the Bed
2. Moderation
3. French Boys
4. Pompeii
5. Harbour
6. Running Away
7. Cry Me Old Trouble
8. Remembering Me
9. Wheel
Cate Le Bon – 2022 Tour Dates
Cate Le Bon 2022 Tour Dates
Sun. Feb. 6 – Woodstock, NY @ Colony #
Tue. Feb. 8 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom #
Wed. Feb. 9 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom #
Fri. Feb. 11 – Toronto, ON @ Great Hall #
Mon. Feb. 14 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall #
Wed. Feb. 16 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom #
Thu. Feb. 17 – Seattle, WA @ Crocodile #
Sun. Feb. 20 – San Luis Obispo, CA @ The Rock / SLO Brew Music Hall #
Thu. Feb. 24 – Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom #
Sat. Feb. 26 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy’s #
Mon. March 14 – Southampton, UK @ Engine Rooms #
Tue. March 15 – London, UK @ Hackney Empire #
Wed. March 16 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall #
Thu. March 17 – Glasgow, UK @ SWG3 TV Studio #
Fri. March 18 – Belfast, UK @ Empire Music Hall #
Sat. March 19 – Dublin, IE @ The National Concert Hall #
Mon. March 21 – Liverpool, UK @ Arts Club #
Tue. March 22 – Leeds, UK @ Irish Centre #
Wed. March 23 – Birmingham, UK @ The Mill #
Mon. March 28 – Lille, FR @ L’Aeronef #
Tue. March 29 – Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie #
Thu. March 31 – Lyon, FR @ Epicerie Moderne #
Fri. April 1 – Zurich, CH @ Bogen F #
Sat. April 2 – Schorndorf, DE @ Manufaktur #
Sun. April 3 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz #
Tue. April 5 – Berlin, DE @ Frannz Club #
Wed. April 6 – Hamburg, DE @ Nochtspeicher #
Thu. April 7 – Hus 7 / Slaktkyrkan @ Stockholm, SE #
Fri. April 8 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret #
Sat. April 9 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega #
Mon. April 11 – Brussels, BE @ AB Box #
Tue. April 12 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso #
# = with Mega Bog
