Cate Le Bon has announced Pompeii. The multi-artist’s new studio album, will drop on February 4th, 2022 via Mexican Summer. Along with the news, Le Bon, has shared the lead single/video, “Running Away,” and dates for her North American, European, and UK tour. “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.

“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.” – Cate Le Bon

Pompeii Written primarily on bass and composed entirely alone in an “uninterrupted vacuum,” Le Bon plays every instrument (except drums and saxophones) and recorded the album largely by herself with long-term collaborator and co-producer Samur Khouja in Cardiff, Wales. Enforced time and space pushed boundaries, leading to an even more extreme version of Le Bon’s studio process – as exits were sealed, she granted herself “permission to annihilate identity.”

Tim Presley’s painting hung on the studio wall as a meditative image for Le Bon and was reproduced as a portrait of her for the Pompeii album cover. Fist across the heart, stalwart and saintly: how to make “music that sounds like a painting?” Le Bon asked herself. Enter piles of Pompeii’s signature synths made on favorites such as the Yamaha DX7, amongst others; basslines inspired by 1980s Japanese city pop, designed to bring joyfulness and abandonment; vocal arrangements that add memorable depth to the melodic fabric of each song; longtime collaborator Stella Mozgawa’s “jazz-thinking” percussion patched in from quarantined Australia; and Khouja’s encouraging presence.

The video for “Running Away” directed by longtime collaborator Casey Raymond and recorded in The Factory in Porth, Wales. It features Le Bon alongside saxophonist Euan Hinshelwood.

Cate Le Bon
Pompeii
Tracklist
Mexican Summer

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
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

Pee-order Pompeii by Cate Le Bon HERE