Cate Le Bon’s ‘Michelangelo Dying’ is, at its core, a breakup record, though one only she could make. Emerging from the wreckage of a long-term relationship and relocations from Joshua Tree, California back to Cardiff, her seventh LP offers heartache rendered as shimmering atmosphere.
What began as a spikier follow-up to ‘Pompeii’ was reshaped by emotional necessity. Instead of angular art-pop, we get textural investigations that refuse neat resolution. On Love Unrehearsed and Body As a River, percussion, piano, and long-time collaborator Euan Hinshelwood’s moaning saxophone attempt to pin down songs that might otherwise drift into vapor, and mostly succeed.
In this arena, John Cale’s cameo on Ride feels inevitable — a meeting of two kindred Welsh spirits bound by a certain liminal awkwardness.
On Is It Worth It (Happy Birthday)? Le Bon skewers the thin line between faith and self-deception, while About Time wrestles with blame and self-reckoning. These lyrical flashes give ballast to arrangements that often favour mood over propulsion.
Sonically, ‘Michelangelo Dying’ is attractive — hazy layers of synths, guitars and voices dissolving. At its best, the record echoes Roxy Music’s velvety arrangements, David Bowie’s (or possibly Robert Fripp’s) evocative guitar work, and Bat For Lashes’ brilliant vampire concept album ‘Lost Girls’.
Yet while its surfaces are rich, the album sometimes trades urgency for ambience, its drifting pace slipping towards stasis. Listeners hoping for the playful bite of ‘Crab Day’ or the immediacy of ‘Reward’ may find themselves clockwatching. Still, this is a record of dignified survival. If it doesn’t quite achieve catharsis, it does capture the slow-yet-luminous work of carrying on and creating.
Cate Le Bon Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Thu October 09 2025 - CARDIFF Wales Millennium Centre
Fri October 10 2025 - MANCHESTER New Century
Sat October 11 2025 - LEEDS Howard Assembly Room
Mon October 13 2025 - GLASGOW Saint Luke's
Tue October 14 2025 - YORK Crescent
Wed October 15 2025 - GATESHEAD Glasshouse
Fri October 17 2025 - BRIGHTON Old Market
Tue November 18 2025 - LONDON Barbican Hall
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
