Cate Le Bon

If Cate Le Bon really writes her songs in the dark, that would explain her somewhat bleak 2009 debutMe Oh My. But on 2011’s weird and wonderfulCyrk, the Welsh singer practically makes her own sunlight funneling her Nico-like voice across mildly psychedelic nostalgia rock. Particularly on the lovely, lumbering title track’s walk in the meadow and the shambling trip through the city in “Puts Me To Work,” Le Bon’s sophisticated vocals tie the music’s chamber-pop fanciness and its buzzy Malkmus guitar tendencies firmly together into an accessible package. 

Updated 02/15/2012