The reviews are in. The second album by silver-plated songstress Cate Le Bon, CYRK, is a bona fide critical hit. The cavalcade of comparisons that crop up in every review – John Cale, Nico, Malkmus et al – give you an idea of the regard in which Le Bon is currently held.

So it is with great pleasure that we can announce the Welsh artist is releasing CYRK II (The Control Group). During the CYRK sessions, back at the dawn of 2011, a grand total of 15 songs were recorded. As they began to form as finished articles they naturally pooled into two camps. Whilst CYRK bounds around erratically and unknowingly like a younger sibling, CYRK II is its older sister, bearing songs of a more starkly confessional nature. Although there is a longing and sadness that litters CYRK II, it never truly realizes itself, often hiding in the forest of lyrics and interrupting instrumentation when on the cusp of revealing too much.

CLB ended 2011 with a 2 month stint supporting America’s finest guitar destroyer Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent. Her time on the road fostered a confidence and assuredness that is evident in Le Bon’s stage presence: with dead-eye stares, guitars held aloft, and the kind of voice that could sink an iceberg, this really isn’t one you want to miss…

So don’t, to coincide with the release Cate Le Bon returns to North American for her second headline tour of 2012, including a performance at Pop Montreal where she’ll share a stage with with Stereolab’s Laetitia Sadier.