The second album from Huw M is, much like its predecessor Os Mewn Swn, a slick and imaginative jumble of Welsh folk, laid-back psychedelia and hippie sensibilities. Proudly delivering a lyrical split between Welsh and English, the singer’s appeal may be hard to decipher for some, but that would be overlooking the blissful subtleties of his music, which possesses an innocent, Syd Barrett-like charm.
Huw M crafts a sound around warm, loping guitars with a variety of instruments to suit the mood. Songs such as The Perfect Silence or Chwyldro Tawel are wonderfully vulnerable acoustic conquests. The addition of a brass section perfectly enhances Babushka, Wake Me.
Lyrically, the album addresses a variety of affairs of the heart and the endearingly twee. This ties in with the downbeat music, though unless you’re a fluent Welsh speaker you’re unlikely to fathom quite what half the songs are about. Apparently Brechdanau Sgwar translates as ‘square sandwiches’, so let’s assume we’re not missing many pearls of wisdom.
You can imagine Huw M having devilish fun playing live, switching between languages as and when the atmosphere requires.
