Reward (album)

Reward
Studio album by Cate Le Bon
Released	24 May 2019 (2019-05-24)
Genre	Art pop avant-pop
Length	42:43
Label	Mexican Summer
Producer	Cate Le Bon Samur Khouja Josiah Steinbrick
Cate Le Bon chronology
Crab Day (2016) Reward (2019) Pompeii (2022)
Singles from Reward
"Daylight Matters" Released: 20 March 2019[1] "Home to You" Released: 16 April 2019[2] "The Light" Released: 2 May 2019[3]

Reward is the fifth studio album by Welsh musician Cate Le Bon, released on 24 May 2019 by Mexican Summer.^[4]

Composition

Reward dives into "revelatory" art pop and is a "lurid rush" of avant-pop music.^[5][6]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.2/10[7]
Metacritic	87/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Exclaim!	8/10[6]
Financial Times	[10]
The Guardian	[11]
Mojo	[12]
Pitchfork	8.4/10[13]
Q	[14]
Rolling Stone	[5]
The Times	[15]
Uncut	9/10[16]

Reward was met with universal acclaim reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 87, based on 18 reviews.^[8]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Miami"	5:17
2.	"Daylight Matters"	4:18
3.	"Home to You"	5:27
4.	"Mother's Mother's Magazines"	4:17
5.	"Here It Comes Again"	3:24

Side two

No.	Title	Length
6.	"Sad Nudes"	3:08
7.	"The Light"	4:51
8.	"Magnificent Gestures"	5:00
9.	"You Don't Love Me"	3:06
10.	"Meet the Man"	3:55
Total length:		42:43

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the Reward liner notes.^[17]

Musicians

• Cate Le Bon – vocals, guitars & synths (all tracks), Mellotron (2), piano (2, 4-6, 10), percussion (3, 5, 7, 8), bass (7, 9)
• Stephen Black – bass (2-6, 8, 9), saxophone (1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10), clarinet (10)
• Stella Mozgawa – drums (2-5, 7-10), percussion (3-6)
• H. Hawkline – percussive guitar (1), slide guitar (6), guitar (9)
• Samur Khouja – guitar (9)
• Josh Klinghoffer – guitar (3, 4, 8), synth (8)
• Josiah Steinbrick – percussion (4, 6, 8), synths (4, 8, 9)
• Kurt Vile – vocals (8)

Technical

• Cate Le Bon – production (all tracks)
• Samur Khouja – production (all tracks), engineering
• Josiah Steinbrick – production (2-10)
• Stephen Black – additional engineering
• Noah Georgeson – mixing
• Heba Kadry – mastering

Artwork and design

• Phil Collins / Shady Lane Productions – art direction
• Ivana Kličković – photography & styling
• Andrea Bennett, Lisa Breitfeld, and Christian Fritzenwanker – hair & makeup
• H. Hawkline – design and layout

Charts

Chart (2019)	Peak position
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18]	32
UK Albums (OCC)[19]	86
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[20]	8
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[21]	32
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[22]	35

References

1. Blais-Billie, Braudie (20 March 2019). "Cate Le Bon Announces New Album "Reward"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
2. "Home To You – Single by Cate Le Bon". iTunes Store. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
3. "The Light – Single by Cate Le Bon". iTunes Store. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
4. Vozick-Levinson, Simon (24 May 2019). "How Cate Le Bon Built Her Best Album Yet". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
5. Martoccio, Angie (23 May 2019). "Cate Le Bon Turns Solitude Into Revelatory Art-Pop on 'Reward'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
6. Mohammed, Jenna (21 May 2019). "Cate Le Bon: Reward". Exclaim!. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
7. "Reward by Cate Le Bon reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
8. "Reward by Cate Le Bon Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
9. Thomas, Fred. "Reward – Cate Le Bon". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
10. Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic (24 May 2019). "Cate Le Bon: Reward — square pegs and round holes". Financial Times. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
11. Petridis, Alexis (23 May 2019). "Cate Le Bon: Reward review – a mind unravelling in Cumbria". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
12. Segal, Victoria (June 2019). "Cate Le Bon: Reward". Mojo (307): 89.
13. Sodomsky, Sam (28 May 2019). "Cate Le Bon: Reward". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
14. Catchpole, Chris (July 2019). "Only the Lonely". Q (399): 107.
15. Hodgkinson, Will (24 May 2019). "Cate Le Bon: Reward review". The Times. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
16. Martin, Piers (June 2019). "Cate Le Bon: Reward". Uncut (265): 30.
17. Reward (CD booklet). Cate Le Bon. Mexican Summer. 2019.
18. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
19. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
20. "Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
21. "Independent Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
22. "Tastemaker Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 3 August 2019.

External links

• Reward at Discogs (list of releases)