The idea of releasing a 23-track double album of pop and rock songs written entirely in Cymraeg – the Welsh language – might daunt some artists. But not Adwaith, a post-punk group from Carmarthenshire in south-west Wales.
“Well, I mean, if Beyoncé and Taylor Swift can do double albums, then why not us?” said Hollie Singer (vocals, guitar). “I think we’ve always had that ambition from the start. This is the pinnacle of that.”
Adwaith, are being hailed as the spearhead of a new breed of young bands and singers performing in Cymraeg.
Their previous two albums have been well-received and one of their songs, Fel i Fod, has been played more than a million times on Spotify. Their songs are being heard ever more frequently on UK-wide radio stations and their shows sell out not just in Wales but across the UK and in Europe.
The new album, which is called Solas, a Celtic word meaning enlightenment, may turn out to be another major leap forward for the band and Welsh-language pop and rock.
Gwenllian Anthony, who plays bass guitar and keyboards, said: “I think this whole album has been us finding ourselves. There was some naivety around our first album [Melyn]. The second album [Bato Mato] we were in our early 20s and there was a bit of anxiety and not being sure what to do with ourselves. That material was a lot about us moving away and the experiences we had travelling.
“This third album is us coming home and actually being confident in ourselves and being true to ourselves and not letting anxieties take over us. We’re sort of feeling enlightened.”
Solas is, as far as anyone can establish, the first double album from a female Welsh-language band.
“There were a few people who said, it shouldn’t be a double album – people are not going to care, it’ll be too long,” Anthony said. “And we were just like, nope, it’s going to be a double album. The older we get, we just want to make stuff that we want to do and we want to release music without having to compromise.”
The album was recorded in places ranging from the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, Lisbon in Portugal and the renowned Sain studios in north Wales, co-founded in 1969 by the Welsh protest singer Dafydd Iwan, whose song Yma o Hyd (We’re Still Here) has become an anthem for Wales football fans.
One of the tracks on Sola, Heddiw / Yfory (Today/Tomorrow), was recorded in the barn of drummer Heledd Owen’s parents and honours the comforting familiarity for the band of Welsh landscapes. Owen said: “It’s about walking the same land I’ve been walking since I was a child, doing what I used to do as a child – very nostalgic.”
Influences on Solas range from the Cure to the nomadic blues of west Africa and Björk, but a vital element is Cymraeg.
Singer said the language felt like an instrument in their work. “It’s such an integral part of what we do and who we are and what we create.”
Anthony said: “The more you get people saying, well, wouldn’t you be more successful doing it in English, the more we want to do it in Welsh. We’re stubborn. We’re going to do a double album and it’s going to be in Welsh.
“We’ve had some people say that they’ve been learning the lyrics or have tried to learn Welsh from our songs, which is amazing. We couldn’t ask for much more than that. Making someone want to learn a language through music is amazing.”
Adwaith – which means reaction – were inspired by artists who sing in Welsh such as Gwenno and Super Furry Animals. Anthony said: “It’s important for us to open more doors for other Welsh language bands. If we do that, then our job is done.”
Solas will be out on 7 February via Libertino Records.
