There’s something about the new YNYS album Dosbarth Nos (Night Class) that is lit by the vivid colours of a cathode TV and not flatscreen. It has a warm vintage nostalgia that harks back to four channels on TV and when pop music was an art form of great hooks and widescreen production. This is toffee apple pop: sweet and crisp. The bounce of opening track ‘Darnau Coll’ (‘Missing Pieces’) gives a glorious signpost to what lies ahead; swirling tunes buoyed up by lush harmonies that are woven into opulent strings and stabs of punchy brass.
The sound is massive – think Wings’ ‘Live and Let Die’ big – with all instruments working together to maximise the power of pop. Take the track ‘Aros Amdanat Ti’, it could have had the dancers on 1970s Saturday night variety shows dancing their diamante court shoes off (see this clip of the Young Generation, and top marks to anyone who can spot which TV producer and Pop Idol judge is in the line-up*).
Hooks and tunes abound, in particular the golden thread of synth and soaring vocals on the title track and ‘Gyda Ni’ (‘With Us’), the melancholy lilt of ‘Hi sy’n canu’ (‘She Sings’) which changes speed to great effect, and the wistful mirrorball swirl of ‘Dim ond ni’ (‘Only Us’). YNYS even get to channel the tropical feeling of Hawai’i on ‘Welcome Back To The Island’. In fact YNYS means ‘island’ and the eponymous closing track is a gentle coda to cool you down after such grandiloquent pop.
Like fellow countryman Carwyn Ellis (Colorama, Rio 18, Bendith) and Super Furry Animals, or acts like Grizzly Bear and Supertramp, YNYS make the complexity of their writing sound easy. This is the kind of music that lifts the spirits and lets you luxuriate in its mille-feuille layers. I want to give a special mention to Gruff ab Arwel who has crafted some gorgeous string arrangements and, if it was a Welsh production company making Bond films, then YNYS would surely be in the running to write a theme featuring Gruff’s towering work. I have a theoretical test of albums I would play at full volume while driving down the Pacific Coast Highway in an open-topped sports car and Dosbarth Nos passes with flying colours. This isn’t just a night class, it’s a musical masterclass.
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Dosbarth Nos is released on the amazing Libertino Records.
*The answer is Nigel Lythgoe, a man who has performed with Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly and also choreographed for the likes of Shirley Bassey and The Muppets. The Young Generation also counted former Blue Peter presenter Lesley Judd
Review by Paul F Cook
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