With the event now into its third year, the winner of the Welsh Music Prize will be announced on October 17, just as Cardiff gears up for another edition of the eclectic, city-spanning Swn Festival. Last year’s successful live show is back too, with Clwb Ifor Bach, a popular small venue for up and coming Welsh acts, hosting several of the nominees 24 hours before Swn gets going.
Performing at the Welsh Music Prize are Little Arrow, Georgia Ruth, Winter Villains, Zervas & Pepper, Sweet Baboo, Fist Of The First Man, Laurence Made Me Cry and Trwbador, all of whom are neatly nestled among this year’s nominees for an award won by Gruff Rhys (Hotel Shampoo) and Future Of The Left (The Plot Against Common Sense) in 2011 and 2012.
The class of 2013 really showcases the diversity, as well as quality, of music coming out of Wales, with both established and new artists gaining recognition. For a further flavour of the list, here’s Stereoboard’s rundown of the 12 nominees:
Euros Childs – Summer Special
Best known as frontman of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Childs is certainly the most prolific artist on this list. This was his eighth solo LP since 2006, with a ninth on the way this month. Full of shimmering pop tunes and clocking in at just 30 minutes, it’s packed with breezy summer loveliness.
Fist Of The First Man – Fist Of The First Man
The side project of producer and film composer Zwolf, this self-titled debut is full of the dark, atmosphere-heavy tracks you’d expect from someone with his background. A live set at this year’s Green Man was one of the festival’s highlights.
Georgia Ruth – Week Of Pines
On ‘Week Of Pines’, a folky blend of both English and Welsh language tracks, Aberystwyth’s Georgia Ruth displays a voice that feels like a warm hug. Backed with her own beautiful harp as well as more mainstream instrumentation, it’s one of the most ‘local’ albums on the shortlist.
Laurence Made Me Cry – The Diary Of Me
Cardiff-based Jo Whitby’s debut is one of the more eclectic offerings here, with splashes of electronica, folk and pop throughout and clever lyrics designed, as its title suggests, to read like diary entries.
Little Arrow – Wild Wishes
The second album of intricately-layered folk rock from Little Arrow instantly sounds like the sort of album inspired by the beautiful surroundings of their Pembrokeshire base. Optimistic and warming, it’s like a mug of hot chocolate on a winter day.
Metabeats – Caviar Crackle
Metabeats’ debut has him on the verge of joining the ranks of the most exciting hip hop producers around, and also possesses a belter of an album title. Packed with collaborations from both sides of the Atlantic, it’s dark and heavy but melodic at the same time.
Neon Neon – Praxis Makes Perfect
One of pop’s great innovators, and a past winner, Gruff Rhys teamed up with Boom Bip for the second Neon Neon album, this time based around the life of Italian left wing political activist Giangiacomo Feltrinelli. It’s full of invention and variety, but as good as the album is, the live show is something truly unique and remarkable.
Race Horses – Furniture
Race Horses shifted to all English language songs for their second album, with its upbeat sounds and harmonies taking the edge off some of the darker lyrical content. Showing strong growth from their solid debut it’s indie music with added twist and extra character.
Sweet Baboo – Ships
The fourth album from Sweet Baboo, aka Stephen Black, sees him take a further step forward with his finest outing yet. Maintaining the sharp falsetto vocal and quirky lyrics, extra depth has been added to Ships as it moves between subtle folk and joyful pop. Albums like this can’t help but make you smile.
Trwbador – Trwbador
Carmarthenshire duo Angharad Van Rijswijk and Owain Gwilym’s debut was several years in the making. Blending ‘60s folk and intimate harmonies with modern digital tweaks, it’s classic and progressive at the same time.
Winter Villains – February
As the band name and album title suggest, this debut effort from the Cardiff duo draws on imagery of cold winter nights, apt as temperatures begin to drop. Its sparse, restrained instrumentation and fragile harmonies have a real beauty about them, reminiscent of Sigur Ros.
Zervas & Pepper – Lifebringer
Fronted by couple Paul Zervas and Kath Pepper, this second album from the Cardiff six piece shows real growth from their popular debut. Perfectly balanced vocals are set against west coast breezy tunes, and observational lyrics, resulting in an album full of depth and quality.
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