Welsh Music Wednesday: Horizons 12 Special
It’s that time of year again! Horizons is a scheme developed by BBC Wales & Arts Council Wales to support and promote Welsh musical talent. The scheme has proven very successful in the past, with acts such as Houdini Dax and The People The Poet amongst those who have benefited from the support.
This week, Horizons have announced their next twelve artists for 2016; some we’ve heard of, some we’ll be hearing of soon. For this week’s Welsh Music Wednesday, we’re not picking favourites, we’re congratulating and introducing you to the full Horizons 12.
Afro Cluster are an experimental nine-piece who combine afro-funk and hip-hop. The result is not only impressively complex and almost psychedelic, but truly brilliant. Afro Cluster are based in Cardiff and list their influences as “Fela Kuti, Snarky Puppy, James Brown, The JB’s, The Roots, Ozomatli, Talking Heads” and more, all found on their Facebook.
They launch their EP ‘We Don Land‘ in Clwb Ifor Bach on April 7th. Until then, you can check them out below.
Anelog are a bilingual band, formed of members of two families. They make ambient, folk-pop sounds using soft, electronic melodies and gentle vocals – in other words, they make simply beautiful music. Some of which features on ‘Swooshed‘, a compilation album released this week by Recordiau Cau Gwyn. The album is stunning, a full feature on which will be coming soon. For now, you can check out Anelog below.
And now for something a little heavier, Casey, from Newport. If you follow our Welsh music features at all, you’ll know that some pretty fantastic noise comes straight outta Newport, and Casey are no exception. Their aggressive, impressive post-hardcore sound differs greatly from their fellow Horizons artists, meaning followers of the scheme who are fans of the genre will immediately take to them.
Fortunately, for those people, Casey released their new single only yesterday, along with the news that they’ve joined Hassle Records and a debut album will be on the way. You can check out the video for ‘Darling‘ their new, and first single from their upcoming album, below.
CaStLeS, (I think it’s supposed to look like the top of a castle wall? Or maybe Facebook just wouldn’t let them call themselves ‘Castles’, but I like my interpretation better.) Anyway, CaStLeS are a bilingual, electronic, psychedelic, indie rock band from Snowdonia. Phew. They make melodies about as interesting and as exciting as they already seem, and you can check out some of those sounds, in the form of a £30 budget music video, below.
Connah Evans is an indie-pop singer-songwriter from North Wales, and if you can resist a smile when listening to his cheerful, feel-good melodies, then you have both a heart and ears of stone. I know I said we weren’t picking favourites, but Connah Evans is one of the artists I’m most excited for out of this year’s Horizons 12.
You can get his new single on iTunes here and check out the video for it below. You’ll want to keep tabs on this one.
Danielle Lewis is a folk-pop singer-songwriter, who sings in two languages, plays at least two instruments (guitar & ukulele) and has already performed on the other side of the world during her eight months in Australia. In other words, Danielle Lewis is a multi-talented individual, with a voice capable of creating dark, haunting tones as well as sweet, soothing melodies. You can support her music here. I’m really excited to hear what she does with Horizons over the next year. In the mean time, this will do just fine.
It’s really good to see so many bilingual artists on the Horizons line-up this year, showcasing not only Welsh language talent, but the fact that a once-labelled ‘dead’ language is actually flourishing, especially in the arts.
Fleur De Lys make brilliant indie anthems, with uplifting riffs and emotive, rock melodies. They would fit in perfectly amongst the flock of today’s modern indie bands, the only difference is they sing exclusively in Welsh. This fact, shouldn’t hold them back, especially not in Wales, and I hope it doesn’t.
Hopefully when people listen to how brilliant Fleur De Lys are, they’ll realise they shouldn’t be put off by Welsh language music, whether they can speak it or not. In fact, I feel a little guilty that I didn’t write this in Welsh…
Reuel Elijah combines elements of rap, R&B, pop and soul to create his own brand of alternative hip-hop. His contemporary take on the genres will be a refreshing change for those who are already fans of the style and also spark an interest in hip-hop amongst those who may not usually listen to it.
Reuel Elijah is from Cardiff and has built up a fanbase in the city and the surrounding areas, but his music is already starting to spread to ears across the borders, you can listen to his new mixtape on Soundcloud and check out the video for one of the tracks below.
Roughion are a Welsh language, experimental, electronic duo who aim to “create Welsh language dance music, one genre at a time”. They achieve this by making remixes of songs by their fellow Welsh artists, as well as creating tunes of their own using heavy basslines, dark electronics and harrowing Welsh vocals. You can check out their remixes and original work below. Go party with them some time, I certainly intend to.
Tibet are a typical indie rock & roll band who wouldn’t sound out of place stood alongside some of the UK’s finest indie artists. In fact, Tibet make catchier songs than a lot of them. Their songs could easily soundtrack your summers drinking cheap cider in Bute Park or your drive to the Welsh coast, whatever the weather (and let’s be honest, it’ll probably be rain). I’m looking forward to hearing more from Tibet, but for now, you can stream their previous releases below.
Ok, I’m going to have to break the ‘no favourites’ rule again here. I actually punched the air a little bit when I saw the news that We’re No Heroes were part of this year’s Horizons 12. The psychedelic, indie disco band, complete with neon-splattered boilersuits, are no strangers to Alt Scribe (we hate to say we told you so, just kidding, we love it) and no strangers to the live music scene. They already have a loyal fanbase in and around Cardiff and beyond, and the adoration is well-deserved with tunes as good as this.
I’m gutted that I’ve not managed to catch We’re No Heroes for a while, but I imagine with this boost from Horizons, there will be plenty more opportunities to see them on the…ahem, horizon. Congratulations, We’re No Heroes.
Last but definitely not least, indie rock band Ysgol Sul are another brilliant Welsh language addition to this year’s Horizons 12. They sit on the darker side of indie rather than the bouncier side. An indie band for the winter rather than the summer, if you like. Their dark melodies and deep vocals are perfectly suited to the sound of the Welsh language. You can check out their sonorous tones below, and if you like it (which you will) you can buy their EP on iTunes here.
So, that’s your Horizons 12 for 2016. Thank you to BBC Horizons for carrying on with such a brilliant scheme and blessing our ears. Congratulations to you all and best of luck from everyone at Alt Scribe!
(Header image taken from the BBC Horizons website)
