Played Cymru #12: The Best In New Welsh Music

Croeso! Welcome to our monthly new Welsh music round-up. Here, CLASH takes a look at the best new releases from emerging acts from Wales. In this especially genre-hopping instalment of this column, we’re casting an eye over a bunch of excellent recent releases by new(ish) Welsh acts, veering wildly between accomplished sampledelica, melodic black metal, ultra-modern UK rap, an emo/alt rock fusion and more!

Before diving in; a quick rundown of notable events from Wales and the Welsh music scene in February. Early in the month, a bunch of Welsh Language Music Day events took place across the UK, including a Welsh-language gig in London hosted by DIY magazine and a show in Cardiff that saw Adwaith make an appearance on The One Show. There was also the reveal of lineups for this year’s Clwb Creative Cymru events, which takes place on St. David’s Day in Shoreditch Arts Centre. Feb also saw the welcome announcement of new Cardiff-based label Grwndi Records; the new home of some brilliant acts including Mellt and Em Koko. Swansea played host to its yearly Swansea House Party arena show, headlined by CVC and with all proceeds going to the Music Venue Trust. Staying in Swansea; the free festival Gwyl Tawe also announced a killer lineup for its June installment. 

In more serious matters; there was the grim news that arts collectives Tactile Bosch, Umbrella and SHIFT were being forced to vacate yet another space. Following years spent curating a home for experimental art and performance, the brutal whim of the powers the be is forcing them out of their basement home in the Capitol Centre. Here’s hoping they find another home ASAP. 

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Don Leisure – ‘Tyrchu Sain’

We’ll start with something special. As part of pioneering Welsh record label Sain’s digitisation of their extensive back catalogue, Cardiffian beatmaker Don Leisure was invited to dig into said discography (the title translates to ‘Digging Sain’) and put together a collection of sample-based reimaginings. ‘Tyrchu Sain’ is what Don, along with famous Welsh friends such as Gruff Rhys, Carwyn Ellis, members of Boy Azooga and various other guests, have come up with. A relentlessly colourful sampledelica album; it deconstructs fifty plus years of Welsh musical history, feeling simultaneously perfectly in keeping with Sain’s iconoclastic spirit and Welsh music’s longstanding penchant for the psychedelic. Read more about it in this interview CLASH conducted with Don.

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Adwaith – ‘Solas’

It feels odd to include Adwaith here, because the Carmarthen-based trio are arguably the biggest Welsh-language band ever, play sell-out shows all over the UK and are the only act to have won the Welsh Music Prize twice. However, they’re still proudly indie (signed to venerable Welsh label Libertino Records) and are simply a shining beacon of how imaginative but also accessible Welsh alternative music can be.

Their third album ‘Solas’ is a sprawling work; a double album (they’re the first female Welsh band to ever release a double album) of endless catchy and vibrant rock songs. Many, like ‘Addo’ and ‘MWY’, completely smash through the language barrier and will remain in your head days after hearing them. It’s Adwaith’s world, we’re all just living (and dancing) in it.

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The Nightmares – ‘Fire In Heaven’

From one Welsh lineage to another. Newport’s The Nightmares boast an immaculately crafted aesthetic  that channels the country’s emo heritage, tilting away from post-hardcore and towards goth rock romantic fatalism, noughties arena indie vibes à la Death Cab For Cutie and Bright Eyes as well as a dollop of influence from Welsh greats Los Campesinos!.

The five-piece’s debut full-length ‘Fire In Heaven’ (released via Venn Records, who are currently on a bit of a hot streak) is rich in American vocal stylings, melodramatic sentiments and gripping energy, plenty enough to have swathes of millennial ex-emos digging out their eyeliner and belting along to lines like ‘Hell Is Going To Happen’s “you tore my heart in two/a piece for me a piece for you”. 

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Tbo – ‘Mixed Emotions’

The South Walian rap scene is in seriously healthy shape right now. Newport’s Lemfreck was deservedly handed the 2024 Welsh Music Prize, while acts like Mace The Great, Luke RV, Figo, Razkid and numerous others are killing it right now, supported by the likes of Larynx Entertainment and the recently reopened and now MOBO-focused venue The New Moon.

20-year old Cardiffian Tbo looks like he has all the skills to soon ascend to the upper ranks of this prolific scene. His debut EP ‘Mixed Emotions’ is an effortless set of UK rap/drill tracks, each one coursing with intelligence and soul. ‘Wondering’ is impressively self-reflective, ‘Late at Night’ shows off its creator’s singing skills, while ‘Shutdown’ is a high energy banger. A well-rounded and gripping calling card.

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Ofnus – ‘Valediction’

Wales suits black metal perfectly. We have all the forests, castles and pagan history required to inspire musicians to slap on some corpse paint and write ten minute epics about communion with nature and suffering.

The accomplished Ofnus have quickly become Wales’ highest-profile new black metal act, releasing their second album ‘Valediction’ on Finnish label Naturmacht Productions and being invited to play Bloodstock and support one of the UK’s biggest black metal acts Saor at an album launch show.

As these seven tracks show, Ofnus have practically mastered atmospheric/melodic black metal. Across these engrossing suites of grandiose heaviness, deep wells of feeling gradually reveal themselves. See also, for a more raw, murky variation of Welsh black metal; a recent release by Brechfa and another via the same musician’s dungeon synth project Altar Of Moss.

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Midding – ‘Nowhere Near Today’

Cardiff’s Midding are going places. The four-piece are signed to London label Tough Love Records, recently played a 6 Music session and have announced a bunch of festival appearances (including Green Man) this summer.

Following some lineup changes and sonic experimentation, it feels like the band are finally settling on their sound. Their brand of drum machine-led, guitar noise pop heavily channels Jesus & Mary Chain, Spacemen 3, Suicide etc.; all strong vocal melodies, simple rhythms (they play live with a stand up drummer) and seductive layers of swirling synths and guitars. It’s very retro, but you can’t help but be drawn into the young band’s fuzzy soundspaces, particularly the most interesting and experimental track; the cosmically-scaled ‘WILL NOT DANCE’.

Keep a close eye on Midding and where they go next.

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Words: Tom Morgan

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