The video for the leading track “Running Away” has been directed by Casey Raymond, Le Bon’s long collaborator. It’s been shoot in The Factory in Porth, Wales. The clip shows the singer and saxophonist Euan Hinshelwood. “The song radiates sax-swagger; a tale exquisite in nature but ultimately doomed”. “The fountain that empties the world / Too beautiful to hold, we can hear the lyrics. Watch the video for “Running Away” below.

The new album is an “audacious tribute to memory, compassion and mortal salience“. Songs of Pompeii “feel suspended in time both of the moment and instant but reactionary and Dada-esque in their insistence to be playful, satirical, and surreal” says the statement.

Le Bon is a multi-instrumentalist and recorded the album largely by herself, with a help of co-producer Samur Khouja. “Pompeii was written and recorded in a quagmire of unease. 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” commented Le Bon on her upcoming release.

“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.”

The album features signature synths made on the singer’s favourite Yamaha DX7, basslines inspired by 1980’s Japanese City Pop and vocals that add depth to each song. 

Le Bon fifth album Reward released in 2019 has reached the Top 50 Best Albums of 2019 by Pitchfork and its been nominate for Mercury Prize. The album received great reviews with mxdwn saying: “Le Bon’s dazzling vocals carry her lyrical narrative like a story untold, just as the melody drools like thick honey, turning into a goopy mass of ambiguous mysticism“.  

Cate Le Bon’s new album Pompeii is out February 4th. Listen / watch the new single “Running Away”https://t.co/sGUTXB9XFp

Mae albwm newydd Cate Le Bon ‘Pompeii” allan ar y 4ydd o Chwefror. Gwyliwch/gwrandech i’r sengl newydd ‘Running Away’https://t.co/sGUTXB9XFp pic.twitter.com/uAGSP89rZu

— Cate Le Bon (@CateLeBon) October 12, 2021

Cate Le Bon will hit the road next year for her World Tour 2022, starting in the USA in February and finishing off in April in the Netherlands. See the full list of the dates below. Tickets are available to purchase here.

6/02/2022 – Colony – Woodstock, NY
8/02 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
9/02 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
11/02 – Great Hall – Toronto, ON
14/02 – Thalia Hall – Chicago, IL
16/02 – Wonder Ballroom – Portland, OR
17/02 – Crocodile – Seattle, WA
20/02 – The Rock / SLO Brew Music Hall – San Luis Obispo, CA
24/02 – Teragram Ballroom – Los Angeles, CA
26/02 – Pappy’s – Pioneertown, CA

14/03 – Engine Rooms – Southampton, the UK
15/03 – Hackney Empire – London, UK
16/03 – Albert Hall – Manchester, the UK
17/03 – SWG3 TV Studio – Glasgow, UK
18/03 – Empire Music Hall – Belfast, UK
19/03 – The National Concert Hall – Dublin, IE
21/03 – Arts Club – Liverpool, the UK
22/03 – Irish Centre – Leeds, the UK
23/03 – The Mill – Birmingham, UK
28/03 – L’Aeronef – Lille, FR
29/03 – La Maroquinerie – Paris, FR
31/03 – Epicerie Moderne – Lyon, FR
1/04 – Bogen F – Zurich, CH
2/04 – Manufaktur – Schorndorf, DE
3/04 – UT Connewitz – Leipzig, DE
5/04 – Frannz Club – Berlin, DE
6/04 – Nochtspeicher – Hamburg, DE
7/04 – Stockholm – Hus 7 / Slaktkyrkan, SE
8/04 – Parkteatret – Oslo, NO
9/04 – Vega – Copenhagen, DK
11/04 – AB Box – Brussels, BE
12/04 – Paradiso – Amsterdam, NL

Photo Credit:  Press/ H Hawkline

BBC Wales is delighted to support Gŵyl 2021!

A free, online festival packed with music, comedy and conversation from Wales and the world.

March 6 & 7, 2021@FOVCardiff @FocusWales @OtherVoicesLive @AberComedyFest
Visit https://t.co/KGcxoJVvHm for more info. pic.twitter.com/M5UuDsZy3T

— BBC Wales (@BBCWales) February 10, 2021

BBC Cymru Wales’ Director General Rhodri Talfan Davies told Wales Online that the festival would provide the public with a welcome escape from the mundanities of lockdown . He said “BBC Wales is delighted to be working with Gŵyl 2021. We all need a blast of creativity, comedy and music right now and this unprecedented partnership with four brilliant Welsh festivals promises to be a real gem.”

Arlo Parks‘ performance at the festival comes on the back of a flurry of glowing commercial and critical successes over the last few months. The Londoner – who was awarded the BBC’s prestigious Introducing Artist of the Year prize for 2020 – saw her debut album Collapse in Sunbeams reach number 3 in the Official UK Albums Chart last month. Reviews for the LP were near-universally positive, with NME hailing the record as “a universal collection of stories that’ll provide solace for listeners of all ages and backgrounds for decades to come.”

As was the case for so many artists, Cate Le Bon was forced to sit through a frustrating succession of postponed live dates in 2020 – including a mammoth North American tour with former War On Drugs guitarist Kurt Vile. The Carmarthenshire-born indie-folk musician is expected to treat Gŵyl’s virtual festival-goers to some of the highlights of her five-album back catalogue; included her most recent offering, 2019’s acclaimed Reward. The singer-songwriter – who collaborated beautifully with compatriots Manic Street Preachers on their 2013 track 4 Lonely Roads – will line-up at Gŵyl alongside another of Welsh rock’s big hitters in Gruff Rhys. The musical partnership dates back to 2008, when Le Bon featured on Neon Neon’s single I Lust For You.

Other names on the eclectic Gŵyl roster include Suede and The Tears frontman Brett Anderson (appearing alongside conductor Charles Hazlewood and the Bristol-based Paraorchestra); 2019 Welsh Music Prize winners Adwaith; Romford-raised BBC Sound of 2021 nominee Berwyn; up-and-coming Neath rapper Luke RV; Wrexham indie-rockers Kidsmoke; harpist Catrin Finch; Cardiff hip-hop merchant Reuel Elijah; and Welsh Language Album of the Year winner Ani Glass. Glass’ 2020 debut LP Mirores – which features vocals in Welsh, English and Cornish – was praised by the Wales Arts Review as “a transcendental work of Welsh electronic music that showcases both mass appeal and artistic integrity.”

Other artists performing for Amazon Prime Day Live include, according to The Scotsman, ‘Amazon Music Ones To Watch 2020 artist Celeste, and Welsh artist and producer Cate Le Bon.’ Who will be broadcasting their performances from small music venues in their native England and Wales, while Capaldi will be recording his set in Scotland.

View this post on Instagram

WE WON TWO BRIT AWARDS!!!!!!!!!!

A post shared by Lewis Calamari (@lewiscapaldi) on Feb 19, 2020 at 12:27pm PST

Winner of two Brit Awards, Capaldi’s presence at the event will bring much needed status and attention to the event, which can be streamed by tuning into Amazon Music UK on Twitch or using the Amazon Music app. Pocket-lint reports Amazon’s statement that performances for the event will be recorded in a ‘small independent music venue across the UK that is under threat of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic,’ to an audience watching online and remotely.

The singer, whose debut album ‘Divinely Uninspired To A Heavenly Extent,’ has been reported by NME as being ‘the UK’s most popular album of 2020 so far,’ has already scored two UK number 1 singles and a number 1 album. His first number 1, ‘Someone You Loved,’ was released on the 22nd of November 2018 and his second, ‘Before You Go,’  a year later on the 28th November 2019. Lewis Capaldi has swiftly become one of the biggest names of the late teens and there is hope that his prestige will be enough to inspire the public generosity required to keep live music from its knees.

Speaking to NME, Music Venue Trust founder Mark Davyd said that ‘Amazon Music was one of the first donors for our COVID-19 Crisis fund,‘ which was made necessary by the closure of venues and the ongoing restrictions which make live music financially unviable for the majority of venues. Capaldi’s performance at Amazon Prime Day will raise funds and awareness which could help save the live music industry.

As stated in Udiscovermusic, ‘two thirds of the UK’s grassroots venues,’ are ‘unable to go ahead with socially distanced gigs,‘ and are many are fighting to avoid closure altogether. While the industry has made a number of requests for greater government support, Rishi Sunak today shocked musicians across the country by appearing to suggest that ‘struggling musicians and other arts workers should retrain and get a new job,’ as reported by Classic FM. It is, therefore, no huge surprise to find grassroots music venues placing their hopes in big corporations like Amazon which may appreciate the billions of pounds brought in every year by the UK events industry.

Singer/songwriter and guitarist, Anna Calvi has been nominated for her third album, Hunter. She joins the likes of Amy Winehouse and Wolf Alice for having had all of her studio albums nominated for the award. Foals receive their third nomination for their fifth album, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1 and The 1975 try their luck for the second time for A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships.

With the U.K having a deep history with the genre, Punk leads the pack with the most nominations. Welsh musician Cate Le Bon is nominated for her fifth album, Reward and the Bristol based band Idels for their second album, Joy as an Act of Resistance. Irish band Fontaines D.C. and London’s Black MIDI both receive nominations for their debuts, Dogrel and Schlagenheim respectively.

Representing British hip-hop Little Simz’ Grey Area, Slowthai’s Nothing Great About Britain and Dave’s critically acclaimed debut, PSYCHODRAMA have all been nominated. With national bookmakers currently giving PSYCHODRAMA as the favourite to win.

In alternative genres, London-based ‘wonky funk’ pioneer, Nao is nominated for her second studio album, Saturn whilst the 10-piece jazz collective, SEED Ensemble receive a nomination for their debut, Driftglass.

To assist with this year’s nominations, five new judges from various creative fields were added to the panel. BBC Radio 1 presenter and DJ, Annie Mac, VICE editorial director, Tshepo Mokoena and British singer/songwriters, Gaz Coombes, Jorja Smith and Stormzy joined the remaining seven judges to pick the best albums of the year.

The Mercury Prize Nominees are as follows:

Anna Calvi – Hunter

Black Midi – Schlagenheim

Cate Le Bon – Reward

Dave – Psychodrama

Foals – Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1

Fontaines D.C. – Dogrel

Idles – Joy as an Act of Resistance

Little Simz – Grey Area

Nao – Saturn

Seed Ensemble – Driftglass

Slowthai – Nothing Great About Britain

The 1975 – A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships