I know many album reviewers like to keep the reader on tenterhooks until the end of the review before the big reveal of how good the piece of work is, but Druids and Bards is an absolutely wonderful record so there is no need for beating around the bush here. We have been treated to a previous Holy Coves album (albeit 15 years ago) we have had four exceptional singles from this album already and we have had half a U.K. tour so you know what you are going to get; a hazy, shoe-gazy whirl of fuzz, packed with emotion and plaintive guitars, layers of sound and an intense man absolutely exposing his soul.

We all know that music can transcend space and time, it has the ability to transport the listener to moments in their own life or evoke feelings of understanding of some truth the writer needs to express. In this way Druids and Bards conjures a sonic soundscape that transports the listener to the realm of Holy Coves; a mystical place separated from the mainland by a narrow rift in the land that is filled with turbulent waters, more than that, Holy coves come from an island off this island; a place twice removed. This place is beautiful and sparse, it can be wild and isolated, the island was once the most important place in Wales, the only place where the native language had a legal status and speakers could defend themselves in court in their native tongue. From the island, the view back across to the mainland is dominated by foreboding snow peaked mountains dotted with castles and fortifications. Scott was formed in the environment and as much as he himself is a force of nature in his own right, we all have to conform to our environment.

Just like the physical land itself, connected to the mainland by a bridge transporting tourist and heavy goods vehicles to the island when the elemental forces allow; this bridge can close when the weather turns tempestuous and the straits become tumultuous, closing the gateway to the land of the Holy Coves. Like the bridge, this album connects Holy Coves to a place and time, it connects the listener to the artist’s deepest thoughts, his very soul like an umbilical. From the opener Away We Go to the closer Taste The Wine (possibly my two personal favourite tracks on the album, although picking favourites here is liking picking favourites on the Verve’s A Storm in Heaven; pointless, just love the album as a whole as it was intended) the record is an absolute joy. It is right to be bookended in this way, Away We Go evokes feelings of eerily hollow euphoria; its a haunting anthem, it draws you in, it makes you want more, foreshadowing the feeling of going on a journey through your headphones. While Taste The Wine is the beautifully evocative metaphorical death knell of the record, it is the end of side two, arrival at the destination. O.K. it might not be an album you would stick on to kick off a Friday night with your mates, but it’s not a maudlin dirgefest either, it is more of a 2am introspection vibe or a road trip on your own so you can just have it in on repeat. For hours. Tracks like Grey sound more upbeat but Scott reminds us to “Let go the feel again, ‘cos everything is hopeless when you’re Grey. Hurt will find you, love will guide you home.” But as is often the case with soulful brilliance and emotionally charged

song writing, the overall effect is one of affirmation, hope redemption and resurrection. It is an album that bares its soul; the good and the bad, and says “I accept it all, I might not like it but it is me, my strengths, my flaws.” The album feels spacious and claustrophobic at the same time, possibly evoking the feeling of living on an island that is off an island that is off an island; but hey, it’s a nice place to visit.

As I said, What an album! 10 out of 10. Go and buy it, stream it, sing it, love it, go and see them live, Come on, Get in, Take two, my friend and AWAY WE GO!

Druids and Bards is out now on Yr Wyddfa records.

Emily Marsden – Editor
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