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Track Listings
| 1. Falcon Eyed |
| 2. Puts M to Work |
| 3. Cyrk |
| 4. Julia |
| 5. Greta |
| 6. Fold the Cloth |
| 7. The Man I Wanted |
| 8. Through the Mill |
| 9. Ploughing Out Part 1 |
| 10. Ploughing Out Part 2 |
Product Description
Review
If the album's metaphorical land mass is remote, it's also rather eerie. The mid-tempo drone of Julia could soundtrack an age-old pagan ritual, while Greta is pretty spooky stuff for a song about a baby niece. "You existed in moonlight before you were born," Le Bon croons over a heavy fog of a synth line.
This ominous atmosphere is intensified by Le Bon's clipped, Nico-like vocals and largely ambiguous lyrics. The Cardiff-based chanteuse – a sort of protégé of Gruff Rhys from Super Furry Animals – has developed a set method of songwriting. She pens her melodies first; then she mouths the sounds that she wants her lyrics to emulate; but she doesn't finish them until the night before recording. As a result, her songs don't really tell straightforward stories; they paint impressionistic pictures instead. Le Bon's not averse to the odd nifty couplet though. "What I hoped for most / Was to be his greatest host," she sings on The Man I Wanted, a song which perfectly captures the thick, oppressive nature of romantic desire.
Cyrk is as idiosyncratic as an album named after the Polish word for circus probably ought to be, but it's not inaccessible. Songs like Fold the Cloth, Puts Me to Work and Through the Mill are underpinned by ringing guitar hooks and Le Bon speckles everything with pretty (if pretty unsettling) vocal melodies. The result is a rare beast: a genuinely off-kilter pop record that never feels too self-conscious or contrived.
--Nick Levine
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Product Description
Customer Reviews
Though she's still obviously very fond of Stephen Malkmus's cockeyed approach to songwriting - Cyrk occasionally sounds like a Trish Keenan-fronted Wowee Zowee-era Pavement grappling with Faust's "It's A Bit Of A Pain", it has to be said (fine by me, frankly!) - she's excelled herself in terms of eerie, indelible hooks & eccentric, opaque wordplay this time 'round. At the moment, my favourite tracks are the vespertine "The Man I Wanted" (a curious "down-but-not-out"-type lament), & the pleasantly disturbed "Greta" (which reminds me, a wee bit, of "Jugband Blues"), but I expect I'll have changed my mind again by the time you read this. After all, at a succinct 35 minutes' duration, there's no room for filler.
It's still only July, but I can't imagine they'll be many better LPs released this year.
Note that the vinyl *does* come with an MP3 download code (at least mine did), but it's lightweight vinyl.
The lady has a very pleasant (husky/strong) voice and some nice turns of phrase + there is some decent "psych" instrumentation - can't argue with any of that. However, none of the tunes stick and it gets a bit "samey"- a bit noodley/self indulgent.
There's no information given re who played what instruments and no lyrics are included - both black marks for this purchaser.
Its worth a listen but is a bit too "clever for the sake of it" for me. Clearly some talent but needs to give a bit more to the listener if its to be developed.
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