Cate Le Bon’s third studio album, Mug Museum, should have been a return to form for the Welsh singer. Cyrk, released in 2012, was a fever dream of metaphors about death and lost love, with Cate Timothy’s vocals floating over the listener’s head.
However, Mug Museum is a step down from her previous two albums. While it isn’t a sign that Timothy is no longer the new age Nico some critics have seen her as, Mug Museum isn’t as surprisingly raw as Cyrk.
Timothy’s ethereal vocals, guitar playing and peculiar vocals help to move along this otherwise dull album. Songs like “Sisters” and “No God” are wonderful, metaphor-laden tracks of Timothy’s past and let her move softly through the dense museum of her mind.
The lead single, “Are You With Me Now?” is one of the high points on the album, with vocals like those of Annie Clark and Chan Marshall. Timothy brings out her ghostly vocals slowly, after a smooth guitar opening, seemingly asking the listeners if they’re ready to go on a walking tour of her museum.
The final track, which gives the album its name, is a reserved exploration of her move to Los Angeles earlier this year, and is a melancholy laced piano track, stripped of the frilly additions in some earlier tracks.
After falling in love with Cyrk, I had high expectations for Cate Le Bon's new album, and while she can deliver on her vocals and instrumentation, the album still feels like it’s missing something. Moving to the West Coast may have given Timothy new direction, and I’ll follow her in this journey, but I wish we had better music for traveling with her.
Grade: C+
