Ssshhh, come closer. Have you heard the tale of the Cymraeg psyop? You must have done. I mean it sounds completely plausible and I have seen it mentioned on Facebook. Just in case you are not aware, there is a rumour that the Government in Wales were desperately trying to promote the spread of the Welsh language. Like a linguistic virus, they wanted it to infect the young and fallible. The plan? Go on a nationwide hunt for three young girls, fund a record label run by a middle-aged man, and best of all…this all was to be done in the backwaters that is Carmarthen (“what no Cardiff?” I hear you cry) . What a genius plan! Once in motion we will spread their Senedd sanctioned mixture of post-punk and pop, buy them votes in the Welsh Music Prize (twice!!!!), fund them to tour around the UK and Europe, bribe the Manics so they lend a bit of that Cool Cymru edge, and then after three albums they would be successful enough to split them up, announcing a “hiatus”. Oh and we shall call them Adwaith….
Absurd right? Up there with changing batteries in the birds and the ongoing popularity of Rustler burgers. And yet here we are. We do indeed exist during a time where this accusation has actually been made. People said this with not a sense of irony. I wonder what it was about three young women, crafting great songs with a fiercely independent streak, signed to a brand new outside-of-the-city-borders label that made people get so imaginative and defensive (the mind boggles eh). Adwaith were, and remain, a vital injection of unique vision and presentation within the landscape of Welsh language music. Over their three studio albums, they grew up as people and musically, expanding their sonic boundaries further with each release. After the aforementioned hiatus was announced, it was always going to be with interest that awaited what would come next from Hollie Singer, Heledd Owen and Gwenlian Anthony. And now we have UMA by GWEN (Gwenllian Anthony), the first solo album by a member of Adwaith and if you think the rumours about a Senedd music industry insider were far fetched then this might make you cause you to re-evaluate your opinion because surely a solo female artist, singing predominantly in Welsh can’t make an album this potent, addictive and accomplished? Grab the tinfoil…
Ok enough of all that conspiracy bollocks and whilst GWEN herself addresses these accusations on the album, it is time to get serious for a minute. UMA is an extraordinary statement by Anthony. Wisely, UMA is chock full of the melodic hooks and memorable melodies that made Adwaith’s music so popular, yet this pushes her music into a far more experimental setting, allowing textures from Industrial music, and the Bristol sounds of Tricky and Massive Attack to bubble around and frame, classic pop songs (UMA is extremely danceable). Produced by Anthony’s regular collaborator Steff Pringle and Tim Lewis (aka Thighpaulsandra from Coil and Spiritualized) UMA is a dense, monochrome album that matches the album cover. It is a defiant work that comes flying out of the traps from track one to its final seconds.
“Fuck that, I’m done” is a pretty striking way to start your debut album but that’s exactly where it should be because the song ‘POP!’ is GWEN laying down her manifesto in wonderful fashion because now we know that GWEN is “done” with any conspiratorial bullshit or media games. This is Anthony striking first and hard and the best part? This isn’t even the best song on the album. ‘Goth’ comes in all post-punk march, before breaking into the sort of anthemic guitar pop of Fontaines DC of Foals, with Anthony’s bass playing helping the song slink through various avenues. ‘Trix’ manages to match the kosmiche of Beak> and post-punk of Mogwai to a lullaby-pop verse and a heavy breakdown of a chorus. Then comes the first of a run of songs that takes UMA from being a solid, impressive debut, into something far more special.
‘Achub Yr Iaith’ is a surging beast of a song, fully pushing all of the album’s cited influences to their extreme, making it a song that is HUGE in sound and rammed full of ideas, most of which you will only notice on repeated listens. ‘Achub Yr Iaith’ is destined to be a live favourite and a song that sounds equally massive on a car radio, home hi-fi system, a phone, and especially headphones. ‘Digon’ at first seems like a sudden shift in mood as it slowly drifts in like an updated Where Is My MInd? complete with wispy vocals, before it announces this slab of synths and tub-thumping drums that make it sound crushingly emotional. A song that manages to sound extremely vulnerable yet also resilient.
UMA then pushes further into the industrial elements with ‘UN, DAU, TRI!’ which is where GWEN writes a song full of sexual swagger and nonchalant attitude. Then…oh then…
‘Tina Ar Y Crusher’ might just be the finest song Gwenllian has ever written and recorded. An absolute driving, slash and burn post-punk rocker that burns everything in its wake. The vocals are surrounded by XTRMTR-era synth chaos and they absolutely soar as the song’s title sings us to its climax. ‘Tina Ar y Crusher’ carries the driving power of something from the Manic’s Holy Bible, or The Cure’s Pornography. It will go down as one of the best songs to come out of this country and you can quote me on that.
You would think then that GWEN would decide to ease up and whilst ‘Umami’ returns us to a more gentler pace, it continues with its heavy emotional weight. It is here where you get a further sense of GWEN’s skills as an arranger and her working relationship with her producers, as they create a landscape that glistens, allowing moments where gorgeous piano runs appear and disappear, guitars add textures on the one side, and the crisp drums help connect the various moods of the song. Texturally, this feels like the most intricate song on the album and it is one that leaves you thinking about it long after it has ended.
UMA then concludes with ‘Meddal’ which is the most obvious song that connects GWEN with Adwaith, yet it still manages to throw in random production elements that help it stand apart. The way the guitars slash ‘n’ burn at the end make the climax of the song one of, if not the, most exhilarating on the album. And then there was ‘Breichiau Tyner Y Môr. A dream-pop pulse of an album closer that gives the album a melancholic ending albeit one which contains Anthony’s best vocals on the album.
As someone who has written about Adwaith since their earliest days (hoping for that Senedd cheque any day now) I have seen Gwenllian develop as an artist at quite a pace yet I was totally taken aback when I listened to UMA. The songwriting was never going to be an issue as she has always ben a talent, but it was the sheer level of experimentation that took me by surprise. Not only does it contain enough elements to bring the Adwaith fans with her, but it also forges new ground for Anthony both sonically and emotionally. This is not a tentative step out onto the solo stage, instead this is a truly powerful, entrancing and utterly absorbent piece of art that takes a multitude of influences and turns them into the slab of post-pop that is needed right now. Here is an album every bit as good as those being championed on your 6Music and Radio 1’s and if there is any justice at all, you will be seeing it lauded by the press from every corner of these isles and beyond. A truly magnificent debut album.
All words by Simon Tucker
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