Titus writes:
Adwaith translates as ‘Reaction’, and they are a
Welsh language indie band from the town of Carmarthen in West Wales.
The membership consists of Hollie Singer (vocals & guitar),
Gwenllian Anthony (bass, keyboards & mandolin), and Heledd Owen
(drums). They have made three albums, all on Libertino Records –
‘Melyn’ (2018); Bato Mato (2022); and ‘Solas’ (2025). The first two
LP’s both won the Welsh Music Prize for best album in their release
year, making Adwaith the first act to receive the award twice. Their
home town doesn’t bring back many happy memories for Anne & me, in
that last year we were trying to find the nearby Gwili Steam Railway,
which had relocated its headquarters from Bronwydd Arms to Abergwili
Junction, on the outskirts of Carmarthen. The sat nav took us to
Matalan, on a retail park, which clearly didn’t seem right. After
asking various people directions (one of whom was a Police Officer),
and also getting lost again in the town, we missed our booked train,
only to find that we weren’t the only ones!
Singer
and Anthony grew up together in the Welsh town and have known each
other since pre-school age. They formed a band as a duo, but recruited
Heledd Owen at their first gig. A guy called Gruff Wyn Owen, who is
Head of Libertino Records,took the trio on. Singer and Heledd Owen
study music at Universities in South Wales & London respectively,
whilst Anthony is employed by Carmarthen venue The Parrot. In the
daytime, this venue has a well stocked bottle shop of beers &
ciders, a cafe, and a vinyl/CD store. At night, the venue changes into
an entertainment emporium, with live music, poetry, comedy, art and
plays. I mentioned earlier in this blog that the Welsh word Adwaith
actually translates as Reaction – in a recent interview, Hollie Singer
said “One of our mothers asked what ‘reaction’ was in Welsh, and we
just thought ‘Oh that would make a cool name!’”
Adwaith
first appeared on the Welsh language music scene at Womanby Street’s
Castle Emporium in 2017, and since then have played a host of venues
such as ‘Festival No. 6 in Portmeirion; the Swn Festival in Cardiff;
Ty Pawb in Wrexham; Cardigan Castle; and the Green Man Festival in
the Brecon Beacons. The band have performed at ‘Wales goes Pop’ and
‘Future is Female’ Festival, plus they started their own ‘Femme’ nights
(named after their single) intended to offer a safe space for women.
In 2022 Adwaith performed at the Glastonbury Festival on the BBC
Introducing Stage, and in 2024 recorded their third album ‘Solas’ in
West Wales, Lisbon and the Outer Hebrides – the album was released in
February of 2025, and to coincide with this, the band are taking part
in a U.K. and European tour. They are supporters of Welsh
independence, believing that Britain is relying on Westminster and
England too much.
Had
he lived on past 2004, I am sure that legendary DJ John Peel would
have championed the cause and the music of current Welsh Bands, just as
he did during his lifetime with bands such as Anhrefn, Super Furry
Animals, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Llwybr LLaethog and of course Melys
from Betws–y–Coed, who not a lot of people know, attained Number One in
2001’s ‘Festive Fifty’ with ‘Chinese Whispers’. I still play the
track via its original C90 tape! The track that I have asked Lex to
play is from the ‘Solas’ album and is called ‘Coeden Anniben’, which
can be found here.