Alternative Psych-Rock band Holy Coves head out on a free entry Welsh Tour of Wales in March to help the Welsh independent music scene during the cost of living crisis. The tour kicks off at The Parish, Wrexham on Thursday 23rd March, followed by Cwrw, Carmarthen on Friday 24th March and the final tour date at Cader Rocks Torrent Walk, Dolgellau on Saturday 25th March. The band will also play an acoustic instore, free entry gig at The Second 45 Record Shop in Llanelli on Saturday 25th March at 1pm, in partnership with Yr Wyddfa Records, Music Scene Wales, Welsh Connections and Cader Rocks.
Thu 23rd March – The Parish, Wrexham.
Fri 24th March – Cwrw, Carmarthen.
Sat 25th March – Cader Rocks Torrent Walk, Dolgellau
* FREE ENTRY *
Sat 25th March – 1pm – The Second 45 Record Shop – Acoustic instore gig
Crëwyd gan Ynyr a Bethan Mai Morgan Ifan Ffilmiwyd yn Pantri Lolfa Pen-bre, diolch i Holly a Lee Weston-Zygaldo
Created by Ynyr and Bethan Mai Morgan Ifan Filmed in Pantri Lolfa Pen-bre, thanks to Holly and Lee Weston-Zygaldo
(SCROLL DOWN FOR ENGLISH)
Mae’n bosib mai’r ddau drac yma yw’r mynegiad mwyaf pur a chrisialaidd o brif thema’r albym – profiadau Bethan ac Ynyr o fod yn rhieni. Maen nhw hefyd yn ganeuon pop da – felly roeddent yn teimlo fel par o ganeuon addas am sengl ddwbl.
1,2,3 Fel nifer o’r caneuon ar yr albym, cyfansoddwyd y gân hon yn wreiddiol ar y piano gan Bethan. Mae Ynyr a Bethan yn chwarae’r utgyrn ac yn ymuno a hwy mae Ioan Hefin, y dyn sy’n gyfrifol am solo trwmped mwyaf eiconig cerddoriaeth Gymraeg yn Gloria Tyrd Adre gan Eryr Wen. Mae hi’n gân am gariad a’r teimlad o geisio amgyffred maint y cariad gallwch deimlo at rhywun. Mae’n berthnasol i unrhyw fath o gariad ond yn yr achos hwn fe’i hysgrifennwyd wrth i’w merch droi yn dri mlwydd oed, gyda Bethan gwneud ymgais i fynegi a deall y cariad roedd hi’n ei deimlo am ei phlentyn a mawredd rhoi genedigaeth; yr her, gorchfygu a gorfoledd a holl fregusdra amrwd y profiad.
Geiriau Shwt gall rhywbeth mor bitw Siglo’r ddaear, tanio iâs? Pan fi’n teimlo fe’n curo, So’ fe tu fewn nawr, mae e tu fas, Un, dau, tri Menywod doeth oedd yn gwylio, Fy nghyn-famau, rhowch i mi nerth. Holltodd twll yn y nefoedd, Dysgu gwers o beth yw gwerth.
Fflachlwch Bach Teyrnged i’w plentyn cyntaf-anedig. Daeth yr ysbrydoliaeth wrth i Bethan geisio cyfansoddi rhywbeth ar y piano gyda’i merch yn ei chôl yn scriblo dros y nodau. Mae prydferthwch mewn normalrwydd a phethau dydd i ddydd, gorfoledd mewn diwrnod arferol gyda phlant bach. Mae seren y gan yn ymddangos gyda solo allweddellau a’i llinell;
‘Beth chi’n aros am? Cân neu beth? Fi mynd i ddechre un nawr so agor eich clustiau!’
Rhwng ysgrifennu a rhyddhau’r gan, mae eu hail blentyn wedi dod i dynnu sylw a chreu anrhefn wrth y piano unwaith eto, gan ysgrifennu rhan i’w hun yn y gân o nawr ymlaen hefyd. Mae Llyr Parri ar y dryms, Elen Ifan ar y soddgrwth a Mari Morgan ar y ffidil yn ymuno â Bethan ac Ynyr ar y trac yma.
Fflachlwch Bach (Bach) yw teitl y fersiwn fyrhaëdig hon o’r gân, gyda’r ferswin lawn yn ymddangos ar y record. Roedd y dull hyn o enwi yn fwy diddorol na galw’r trac yn ‘(Radio Edit)’ er ei fod mwy na thebyg yn fwy tebygol o achosi dryswch.
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These two tracks are possibly the most crystalline and pure expression of the album’s main theme – Bethan and Ynyr’s experiences of parenthood. They’re also good pop songs – so they felt like an appropriate AA-side.
1,2,3 Like much of the album, this song was initially composed by Bethan on the piano. It features Ynyr and Bethan on trumpets but also features Ioan Hefin, the man responsible for performing Welsh music’s greatest and most iconic trumpet solo in Eryr Wen’s Gloria Tyrd Adre. It’s a song about love and the feeling of trying to comprehend the magnitude of the love that you can feel for someone. It can relate to any form of love but in this instance it was written when their daughter turned 3 years old, with Bethan trying to articulate and comprehend the outpouring of love felt for a child and the hugeness of childbirth; the challenge, escalation, triumph, glory and the raw vulnerability of it all.
Lyrics: How can something so small Shake the earth, spark shivers? When I feel it beating It’s not inside now, it’s outside One, two, three Wise women were watching My ancestral mothers, give me strength A hole split in the sky Learning a lesson about what value is
Fflachlwch Bach An ode to their first-born child. The inspiration came as Bethan was trying to compose something on the piano with their daughter in her lap scribbling over the notes. There’s beauty in normality and the everyday, joy in an average day with small children. The star of the song also makes appearance with a keyboard solo and her self-penned line;
‘What are you waiting for? A song or what? I’m going to begin one now so open your ears!’
Between the writing and release of the song, the arrival of their second child has brought fresh distractions, beats and chaos to the piano, thus writing himself a part in the song. Llyr Parri on drums, Elen Ifan on cello, Mari Morgan on Violin join Ynyr and Bethan for this one.
This shortened radio edit version is called ‘Fflachlwch Bach (Bach)’ whereas the full-length album version is Fflachlwch Bach – bach means small or little. Whilst it’s more fun than just calling it ‘(Radio Edit)’, it’s probably more confusing.
North Wales alternative psych-rock band Holy Coves hail from Holy Island, Anglesey, led by Welsh singer songwriter Scott Marsden. The band released their third studio album Druids & Bards October 2022 on Welsh indie label Yr Wyddfa Records, receiving critical acclaim appearing on numerous album of the year lists and album of the year nominations.
Championed by Gary Crowley on BBC Radio London and playlisted on Amazing Radios A List by Charlie Ashcroft, with BBC Radio Wales’ support from Adam Walton & Huw Stephens, BBC 6 Music support from Steve Lamacq and huge support from Neil Crud, Iain Key & Adam Brady on Louder Than War Radio. The Welsh band had quite the year in 2022.
They kick off 2023 in style in the Welsh capital Cardiff with a headline show at The Moon for This Feeling’s Big in 2023 showcase Thursday 19th January with UK tour dates and festivals to be announced this year.
Welsh alt-pop quartet ‘Safari Gold’ re-emerge with their latest single Last Chance Addict.
Lead vocalist’s Morgan and Danny – “The song plays on general morality and the less glamorous side of thrill seeking. An up tempo song for the deeper souls out there.”
The guys found relative success in their mid-teens under the name ‘Cuba Cuba’, following bands like ‘Kids in Glasshouses’ and ‘Funeral For a Friend’ during the Welsh power-pop zeitgeist of the early 2010′s. 15 years on, they can’t quit making music together. Album number two has been carefully crafted over four years and is set for release on the 27th of January. The band are set to announce a string of live shows in early 2023.
‘Last Chance Addict’ is taken from their forthcoming Album ‘The Years Between Dog And Wolf’ which will be released on the 20th January 2023.
‘Triongl Dyfed’ (The Dyfed Triangle), was the name for the area of west Wales in which there were multiple UFO sightings in the 1970s and 1980s. The central concept of the song is an imagined conspiracy theory that the Meibion Glyndwr holiday cottage arson attacks were carried out by aliens.
Mostly sung from the point of view of the extra-terrestrials – the song borrows from ‘Mae Gen i Het Tri Chornel’ an old welsh nursery rhyme, quotes 70s rockers Edward H Dafis’ hit ‘Mae’n Braf Cael Byw Mewn Tŷ Haf’ (‘It’s nice to live in a holiday home’) and name-checks the legendary singer and actor Bryn Fôn, who was falsely arrested on suspicion of being a member of Meibion Glyndwr, as well as Owain Glyndŵr himself. Both Edward H and Bryn Fôn were extremely accommodating in allowing the band to reference them – Owain Glyndŵr’s silence on the matter is deafening.
As with the whole album, it was recorded in Tŷ Drwg Studios, Grangetown with Frank Naughton and features appearances from Llŷr Parri on drums and Harri Rees on clarinet with everything else performed by Bethan and Ynyr.
“We believe that the second home crisis in Wales is completely out of hand we believe that government should intervene to prevent house prices from rising so dramatically and to allow young people who grew up in the area to buy an affordable home where they live” said the band.
*In case the lyrics get misconstrued; Rogue Jones are categorically not suggesting that burning second homes is the right thing to do – this is a song about aliens coming down from outer space to burn holiday homes*
Triongl Dyfed’ oedd enw’r ardal o orllewin Cymru lle gwelwyd sawl UFO yn y 1970au a’r 1980au. Cysyniad canolog y gân yw damcaniaeth ddychmygol fod ymosodiadau bwriadol Meibion Glyndŵr i losgi bythynnod gwyliau wedi’u cyflawni gan estroniaid.
Yn cael ei chanu yn bennaf o safbwynt yr estroniaid – mae’r gân yn benthyg o ‘Mae Gen i Het Tri Chornel’, yn dyfynnu rocwyr y 70au Edward H Dafis ‘Mae’n Braf Cael Byw Mewn Tŷ Haf’, ac yn enwi’r canwr ac actor chwedlonol Bryn Fôn, a gafodd ei arestio ar gam ar amheuaeth o fod yn aelod o Meibion Glyndwr, yn ogystal ag Owain Glyndŵr ei hun. Roedd Edward H a Bryn Fôn ill dau yn barod iawn i ganiatáu’r band i gyfeirio atynt – mae tawelwch Owain Glyndŵr ar y mater yn fyddarol.
Fel yr albwm cyfan, cafodd ei recordio yn Stiwdios Tŷ Drwg, Grangetown gyda Frank Naughton ac mae’n cynnwys perfformiadau gan Llŷr Parri ar y drymiau a Harri Rees ar y clarinet gyda phopeth arall yn cael ei berfformio gan Bethan ac Ynyr.
“Rydym yn credu bod yr argyfwng ail gartrefi yng Nghymru yn wirion bost ac rydym yn credu y dylai’r llywodraeth ymyrryd i atal prisiau tai rhag codi mor ddramatig ac i ganiatáu i bobl ifanc gafodd eu magu yn yr ardal fedru brynu tŷ fforddiadwy lle maen nhw’n byw” meddai’r band.
*Rhag ofn i’r geiriau gael eu camddehongli; yn bendant nid yw Rogue Jones yn awgrymu mai llosgi ail gartrefi yw’r peth iawn i’w wneud – cân yw hon am estroniaid yn dod i lawr o’r gofod i losgi tai haf*
Bethan Lloyd is a Welsh artist whose trance inducing vocals expand over an ocean of rave inspired production, harmonic layering and otherworldly ecstasy. Working within the unseen realms, Bethan has engaged deeply in the art of relinquishing control.
Bethan takes her intense explorations of the spirit and emotional realms and blends them into something playful and danceable, a gritty experimental pop.
Cutting Circuits is a celebration of relinquishing control, both internally and externally. Changing the pathways of one’s life and opening up to genuine and powerful experiences of awe. This song is a blueprint for cutting the circuits of control and returning to true purpose, to the web and to the void.
“Bethan’s inventive use of dream-like, layered sounds is otherworldly.. a rousing electronic set overlaid with distinct vocals… if it’s at all possible to imagine Gothenburg band The Knife singing in Welsh, then you might well be onto something.” Susan Hansen, Clash Magazine.
“Bethan Lloyd has a very very original vision. She is genuinely remarkable and sounds like nobody but herself” Adam Walton, BBC Wales
“I saw Bethan play at Focus Wales… She blew me away.. She was one of my favourite artists of the festival… I love her music” Bethan Elfyn BBC Radio Wales
“ Bethan Lloyd is an incredible witchy Wild Voice practitioner, musician and incredible singer” Zakia Sewell, NTS Radio
Here is the new single by Jono Davies featuring Glyn ‘PWD’ Hughes, a rendition of Hogia’r Wyddfa’s classic song ‘ Safwn Yn Y Bwlch ‘.
This summer, Jono was approached by Glyn , an old school friend and also the nephew of the late Elwyn Jones of the group Hogia’r Wyddfa. Glyn’s request was a suggestion that they could perhaps record a revamped rendition of the song to support and celebrate the Welsh football teams’ World Cup campaign.
Jono said about the whole concept .. ” To be completely honest at first I wasn’t too sure it was something I would be able to pull off! But being one to never shrug off a challenge, after a few sessions in the studio I began to hear something I could work with and from that moment onwards there was no stopping it really. “
” The anthemic qualities and powerful lyrics were a clear focus point and to make it more relatable to the World Cup I altered a few lines without going overboard. I Imagined it being sung and chanted by the fans during the World Cup. It was a very challenging yet a fulfilling experience all round. I’m happy Glyn thought of involving me in his idea. “
Glyn said about the experience. ” This was a whole new experience for me, but everything seemed to fall into place as time went on. I think it has turned out better than we ever imagined it would so I couldn’t ask for more really. “
The song is out now on Something Personal’s Record label and will be available for streaming and downloading on all well known platforms.
Dyma sengl newydd Jono Davies sy’n cynnwys Glyn ‘PWD’ Hughes, fersiwn o gân glasurol Hogia’r Wyddfa ‘Safwn Yn Y Bwlch’.
Yr haf hwn, ddoth Glyn , hen ffrind ysgol a hefyd nai i’r diweddar Elwyn Jones o’r grŵp Hogia’r Wyddfa at Jono gyda cais yn awgrym y gallent efallai recordio fersiwn wedi’i hailwampio o’r gân i gefnogi a dathlu ymgyrch Cwpan y Byd tim pêl-droed Cymru.
Dywedodd Jono am y cysyniad cyfan .. ” I fod yn gwbl onest ar y dechrau doeddwn i ddim yn rhy siwr ei fod yn rhywbeth y byddwn i’n gallu ei dynnu i ffwrdd! Ond gan fod yn un i beidio byth â thagu her, ar ôl ychydig o sesiynau yn y stiwdio mi dechreuais glywed rhywbeth y gallwn i weithio gydag ef ac o’r eiliad honno ymlaen nid oedd unrhyw atal mewn gwirionedd.”
” Roedd y rhinweddau anthemig a’r geiriau pwerus yn bwynt ffocws clir ac i’w wneud yn fwy cyfnewidiol i Gwpan y Byd fe newidiais ychydig o linellau heb fynd dros ben llestri. Dychmygais ei fod yn cael ei ganu a’i siantio gan y cefnogwyr yn ystod Cwpan y Byd. Roedd yn brofia hynod o dda a heriol ond boddhaus drwyddo draw. Rwy’n hapus bod Glyn wedi meddwl fy nghynnwys yn ei syniad.”
Dywedodd Glyn am y profiad. “Roedd hwn yn brofiad hollol newydd i mi, ond roedd popeth i’w weld yn disgyn i’w le wrth i amser fynd yn ei flaen. Rwy’n meddwl ei fod wedi troi allan yn well nag yr oeddem erioed wedi dychmygu y byddai felly ni allwn ofyn am fwy mewn gwirionedd.”
Bydd y gân yn cael ei rhyddhau ar label Something Personal Records a bydd ar gael i’w ffrydio a’i lawrlwytho ar bob platfform adnabyddus o ddydd Llun 14eg o Dachwedd.
Heddlu is the new musical project by Rhodri Daniel. The Ceredigion native was a founding member of renowned Welsh band Estrons who had a major impact on the industry having gained rave reviews from the likes of NME, Vice, DIY and Clash to BBC Radio, Radio X, Ultimate Guitar, The Guardian and Independent.
After finishing the band in 2019, Rhodri became aware that his hearing was severely damaged. Years of touring the live circuit had taken their toll, Rhodri ultimately being diagnosed with hearing loss, tinnitus and severe sensitivity to noise. The effects were so acute, Rhodri was unable to be in the same room as other people, leave the house or play music for almost a year.
A chance encounter with a retired record producer, who’s old forgotten studio on the slopes of the Cambrian Mountains was filled with antique synthesisers, inspired Rhodri to consider music once more. Advised to get outdoors to aid recovery, he embarked on a three-month hike spanning 900 miles of the entire Welsh coastline, where he conceived the new project and was inspired to write the music in his head, to be recorded upon his return. Serendipity led Rhodri back to music, and Heddlu was born. Meaning ‘Police’ in Welsh, from the words ‘peace-force’, Heddlu’s music has been true to its’ name, offering a force of peace to the songwriter.
“Auto-Da-Fé”, Heddlu’s 3rd single, (meaning ‘Act of faith’ in the Spanish language), is named after the trial that heretics and apostates faced during the Spanish inquisition, before being condemned. Sung from the dual perspectives of a judgemental inquisitor, and the artist himself, the song conveys a sorrowful and tumultuous scene, echoing how we continually put ourselves on trial for the things that we have done.
2022 has started with a bang for rapidly emerging indie rock band Columbia. They opened the year by sharing the stage headlining with English rockers The Shakes at The Moon Club in their home city of Cardiff, where they were enthusiastically received by the crowd.
This was quickly followed up by a headline gig at The Dragonffli in Pontypool ahead of the exclusive debut album launch event, again held at The Moon for their highly-anticipated debut album, ‘Embrace The Chaos’, their first London gig for Camden Live at Fiddler’s Elbow was on May 8th, and another London date on 26th June at The Dublin Castle, rounding off their Summer with a headline slot at The Moon on July 22nd and also played at SWNDFEST in Swansea on June 19th, with more big events and live dates to be announced for September and November 2022.
The Debut Album, Embrace The Chaos’ has been more than ten years in the making, so to say that Columbia are ecstatic about its long-awaited debut is something of an understatement. The band have continued to write, record, and perform through the challenges faced by the music industry in recent times, to produce a collection of songs of which they can be justifiably proud. (they are also prolific – having already started preliminary work on album 2, lead guitarist Ben Rowlands has lent his fine songwriting skills to some brilliant new tracks, the first of these is a dark The Cure-esque, menacing sounding song with echoes of Joy Division, called ‘Disorder’, a new unreleased track which was recently revealed as a new addition to Columbia’s live set.
Standout singles ‘Keys To The Kingdom’ and ‘Glory People’ have helped to push them into the realm of talented unsigned guitar bands who have that rare ability to combine great songwriting and powerful lyrics with a sound that takes its origins from the best of the likes of Oasis and other powerhouse 90’s bands, whilst sounding refreshingly new and exciting. ‘Embrace The Chaos’ is an album that will ‘restore your faith in rock ‘n’ roll’ says Craig. The Welsh four-piece sound more than stadium-ready on this album, and possess an energy unleashed in their recordings which leaves you feeling excited for their future as a live act.
Indie Revolution 