September’s Record of the Month is Michelangelo Dying, the visceral seventh album from Welsh musician and producer Cate Le Bon.
Michelangelo Dying is a product of a breakup and then starting recovery from it. We only mention this as so many press releases will hammer out a breakup narrative in capitals, rather than letting the work actually articulate anything. This album is absolutely a rare exception, a set of songs with such sonically rich and captivating grief and nostalgia, that it far exceeds the emotion of the written words that accompanied it. Sonically it isn’t downbeat necessarily - in fact there are loads of moments of brilliantly imaginative pop - it is just the intensity of the mood that she is able to create and sustain throughout, so focused and richly nuanced. It is really affecting stuff.
Cate Le Bon has long been one of the most imaginative writers around, with wildly inventive music across alt pop and progressively more experimental rock. Michelangelo Dying has such a sense of fearlessness and limitlessness, suites of timbres and tones that seem to float all around you in the stereo, an immersive song listening experience. A brilliantly produced listening experience. Her self-produced Reward (2019) and the Mercury Award-nominated Pompeii (2022) were both hugely impressive, but Le Bon’s production on this album is just amazing, positively immaculate. Bubbling noises that dissolve and decay in dubby warbles, with her voice enthralling either in laconic whispers or on long held notes.
A beautifully hypnagogic state and the work of a remarkable creative energy in full flow.
And would you like to win a signed test pressing?
Because she is dead cool, Cate has signed us a test pressing, and because we are also dead cool, we’re going to give it away! Simply pre order Michelangelo Dying between now and its release on Friday 26th September and we'll enter you into the draw.
Available in three, six or twelve month configurations, you can join the Drift Record of the Month Club and start adding to your amazing collection. Each month you will receive one new album on either vinyl or CD, based on your subscription type. The first delivery (whether CD or LP) will also include a complimentary Drift Pin.
Find out more here.
Recent 'Record of the Month' albums at Drift have included; Water From Your Eyes, Folk Bitch Trio, Durand Jones & The Indications, Stereolab, Walt McClements, Los Pirañas, Darkside, Delivery. White Denim, Kim Deal, W. H. Lung, Kit Sebastian, The Big Club, Orquesta Akokán, O., Mdou Moctar, Gustaf, Adrianne Lenker, William Doyle, Bill Ryder-Jones, Harp, Hotline TNT, Black Pumas, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Georgia, Cory Hanson, Overmono, North Americans, H. Hawkline, Yo La Tengo, The Murder Capital, Goat Girl, Black Country, New Road, Jane Weaver, Dry Cleaning, Squid, White Flowers, Stephen Fretwell, Chubby and the Gang, Low, BADBADNOTGOOD, Damon Albarn, Geese, Silverbacks, Cate Le Bon, Huerco S., Daniel Rossen, Kevin Morby, Vintage Crop, Viagra Boys, The Lounge Society, Jockstrap, Trevor Beales, Aoife Nessa Frances and Sarathy Korwar.