For me, the joy of Sŵn is discovery. Every year I have attended, I have discovered artists that became very dear to me. Bands like the Tubs, Casual Smart, BC Camplight and Getdown Services, I discovered at Sŵn. Sŵn was also the first time I discovered a community of warm people in Cardiff, so it is incredibly important to me.
Founded in 2007 by Radio 6 DJ Huw Stephens, Sŵn is spread across Cardiff’s independent music venues. It is a good model because it brings people to the city and helps support a close-knit network of local businesses.
I am happy to report that Sŵn 2026 has been the best year of the festival I have ever attended. Whoever booked the eclectic range of artists got it right. I have come out of the weekend with a lot of new music to listen to and a lingering feeling of catharsis.
Me and my mate Oscar tried to see as many of the 120+ gigs as possible (though managed around 15-20). The following three articles will be our review of an amazing community festival.
We began our Thursday evening by meeting in Cardiff’s night market, which opens up for the festival. For the occasion, the big Victorian building is fitted with a discoball. We got some street food, sat and ate surrounded by glittering lights. The band Pypi Slysh played a stripped back, romantic set before being replaced by a Northern Soul vinyl DJ. The market is an important part of the festival, here you can rest between shows in its sensory delight.
I began by going to Little O’Neills and watching Heartpiece. They were a post-hardcore band with a really spacey rhythm section which I adored. They even ripped out a cover of GBV’s Game of Pricks, which, with anyone familiar with the song, will always please a crowd.
Then it was to Welsh independent venue, Clwb Ifor Bach for Little Grandad. They didn’t jump out at me immediately but had their exciting moments. Fronted by brothers, you could tell they had been singing together their whole lives as their harmonies were precise. This paired with well-written pop melodies made them an easy listen.
Oscar:
We then wandered into Mleko at the divey Fuel Rock Bar, who I can safely say are the best act I’ve seen in that room. They played a skilful brand of windmilly art rock, blending elements of jazz, folk, post-punk and post-rock to create fantastic, emotional indie rock. They definitely wear their influences, bands like Black Country, New Road and the Orchestra (For Now), on their sleeve. But their rendition is so tasteful it doesn’t really matter.
Later on at Fuel, I went to see Mould, who packed out the room with fans of their combination of doomy post-punk and ’90s alt-rock. They weren’t the most interesting act of the festival, but there were great, loud guitars and the crowd were really up for it.
Next up was Turnspit at Tiny Rebel, an electronic duo from Leeds who I was very excited to see. Their set was one of the most interesting of the festival. It consisted of the pair, suited and booted, staring into each other’s eyes across the stage, almost like Kraftwerk, with one singing and the other doing live sequencing and even vocal effect edits. They didn’t crack a smile or address the audience once, but they produced fantastic extended, semi-improvised minimalist electro with beautifully haunting vocals that at times became extremely danceable and completely captivated the small upstairs room at Tiny Rebel, including me.
Downstairs at Clwb Ifor Bach, Lauren Auder delivered one of the day’s more intriguing sets, though our differing familiarity with her music shaped our experiences.
Oscar: It’s such an interesting blend of weird French art-pop, hip-hop production techniques and proper SoundCloud rap stuff, but she can also write these beautiful, melodic, guitar-driven pop songs.
Laurie: My favourite moments were the grooves. It became quite funky and catchy, and a lot of fun.
Oscar: The live drummer was awesome, particularly in the dramatic moments when he was using those cymbals with beaters.
Laurie: I can see why someone might find her inaccessible. The vocals aren’t the most consistent or conventional, and the stage presence can be quite awkward.
Oscar: There was a juxtaposition between the moments between songs and the moments when the music came on: she came alive. She was moving in these really interesting ways, almost like Peter Murphy in Bauhaus, making bizarre shapes with a kind of gothic theatricality. The vocals weren’t always completely in shape, but I don’t think that necessarily mattered.
For all its unusualness, Auder’s set was at its best when the music and performance came together, leaving us entertained and with plenty to think about.
Upstairs in Clwb and at the end of the first night we saw the West-Yorkshire band, Working Men’s Club.
Laurie: I have few thoughts on the music itself, apart from that it was brilliant. I was worried at the start, as the first song was ambient post-rock. I thought to myself, ‘Please don’t be like this for an hour. So I was pleasantly surprised when the set completely transformed into this incredible series of dance-punk tunes. I was so sucked in, I danced for an hour without realising or especially paying attention to what was going on.
Oscar: I agree, it was trance-like. It was like a dj-set but with live instruments/synths. It was really well crafted to feel like the rise and fall of a night out. Excellent, synth inflected post-punk is how I would describe it. I really nerded out. It felt like a love letter to some of my favourite dance music. Sometimes it was like the hacienda circa 98, sometimes it committed to acid house, and others felt like piano house.
Laurie: Okay but I will say this was one of the best gigs we saw at the entire festival yet it had one of the smallest crowds. I think it was late on a Thursday and people had work and/or didn’t want to go at it too hard.
Oscar: It was unfortunate timing. They were such a well picked headliner. They would have been much more successful if they had been at the end of the last day instead of the first. Ultimately, Working Men’s Club are a very exciting band that I would love to see more of.
First day down and we had spent it with friends wandering around Cardiff, discovering great new music. That is what Sŵn is all about and we were more than excited to do it again the next day.
All bands featured in order:
Pypi Slysh: Instagram
Heartpiece: Instagram | Bandcamp
Little Grandad: Instagram | Bandcamp | Website
Mleko: Instagram | Bandcamp | Website
Turnspit: Instagram
Lauren Auder: Instagram | Bandcamp
Working Men’s Club: Instagram | Bandcamp | Website
Article by Oscar Hackett and Laurie Green. You can contact Laurie through lauriegreen2005@outlook.com and Oscar through oscarhackett@outlook.com or Instagram.
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