Reviews
Artist:Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog Album: Mynd รข'r t? am dro' (Taking the house for a walk)
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 9
Website: https://crhb.bandcamp.com/
Following hot on the heels of last year's Yn Fyw! Galeri Caernarfon live album, Welsh-language folk-rock/Americana band Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog releases a new studio album mainly consisting of compositions by band member and writer Iwan Hughes.
The core of the band consists of Iwan and his brothers Aled and Dafydd from Rhos Botwnnog, in Gwynedd, Wales. Accompanying musicians are Llyr Pari (guitars), Branwen Williams (keyboards, vocals), Euron Jones (pedal steel guitar), Osian Huw Williams (guitar, percussion, vocals), and Gethin Griffiths (keyboards, vocals).
As with the live album, there's a very Gram Parsons-ish vibe, mixed with a dash of Fairports, about this recording. The more acoustically-based songs also seem to have a touch of the gentler side of Breton band Tri Yann - another ensemble that cheerfully mixes its electric and folkloric aspects.
The production is neither mainstream Nashville nor overly rocky - either of those would seriously interfere with the impact of Iwan's sensitive, almost fragile vocals and the floating harmonies that surround it. This is primarily an electric band, so, of course, there are plenty of driving crescendos, but these swiftly pull back to reveal the melodic aspects of both vocals and instrumentation.
Among the highlights of the album for me, and a fine example of that approach, is the title track, which features Iwan's wife Georgia Ruth on harmony vocals. The album notes say "This is about the changes that happen when you're away, of house demolitions and holiday homes. I have a burning passion for holiday homes." I'm assuming that last comment is a little tongue in cheek, but there's plenty of passion and yearning present in the singing.
Defodau (Rituals) is a love song which Iwan says is "a rare thing for me because they're hard to write. " A gently melodic number that starts with a minimalist backing of acoustic guitar and bass that is given just the lightest lift by the addition halfway through of Euron Jones sympathetically laid-back pedal steel. This is one I could play again and again.
Halltu'r Dydd (Salt-curing the day) is about trying to hold a perfect day in one's memory. It's a bit heavier in places than most of the other tracks, but has plenty of dynamic rises and falls and features some very tasty double-stop lines on both bass and guitar, while the relentless rhythm and a very 60s-type lead break bring the Byrds classic Rock'n'Roll Star to mind.
I particularly liked Cyrraedd Glan (Reaching Shore), a work by 1990 National Eisteddfod Crown-winning poet Iwan Llwyd set to a very pretty lilting melody by Iwan and his wife Georgia, who again features on vocals.
My only criticism of this recording is that my personal taste would prefer the band leant more in the Fairport/Tri Yann direction than to the Americana-tinged arrangements. My tiny sprinkling of Welsh and my calling in aid of Google Translate make it clear that Iwan Hughes has both a strong poetic facility and an appreciation for the Cymraeg poetic tradition. It'd be nice to hear more aspects of Welsh tradition in the arrangements.
The Cowbois are an electric band, and I don't imagine they want to be an acoustic folk group, but I'd love to hear them create a more definably Welsh electric music - as the Fairports, Tri Yann, Luar na Lubre and the Byrds did with their own musical inheritance. That says more about me however than it does about the material, and it can't be denied that this is an excellent band, with a gifted writer. If you like your Celtic tinged with Americana, then Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog is the band for you!
Bob Leslie
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