Cornish language art rocker Gwenno has released a video for her brand new single Men An Toll, which means 'holed stone' and which you can watch in full below.
The new single is taken from her upcoming third album Tresor, which will be released through Heavenly Recordings on July 1.
“Men an Toll (also known as Mên-an-Toll) is a wonderful Bronze Age formation of standing stones near Madron, Cornwall," Gwenno explains. "With its obvious feminine symbolism its holed stone was believed to aid fertility. I was inspired by Ithell Colquhoun’s The Living Stones as well as the eternal nature of these ancient monuments and how they enable us to reflect on our own nature as human beings and on our relationship to the landscape. I sing, in Cornish “It's completely obvious that I can't escape from this...” I'm trying to express the moment when you connect with your own instinct, and accept what you are.
"With ‘Men and Toll’, I wanted to share a different and quieter side to the record, one that is grounded in the music that has had a big influence on both Rhys (Edwards, co-producer and musical collaborator) and I - ambient Celtic music, film scores, and experimental electronic music. I've created a playlist of artists and songs which I think embody some of these elements, and having listened to so much music which soothes the soul over the past couple of years, I hope that this collection of songs will serve as a small and helpful reminder of how powerful the sound of gentleness and beauty is.”
You can check out Gwenno's playlist here.
Tresor, which translates as Treasure, is Gwenno's third album, and her second sung almost entirely in Cornish (Kernewek). Written in St. Ives, Cornwall, just prior to the lockdowns of 2020 and completed at home in Cardiff during the pandemic, Tresor reveals an introspective focus on home and self, a prescient work echoing the isolation and retreat that has been a central, global shared experience over the past two years.
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