Breichiau Hir
Pob Un Brwydr
Released 13th February/DL
Ground breaking Welsh-language post-punk rockers Breichiau Hir release a new single to mark Welsh Language Music Day
Welsh six-piece Breichiau Hir release their new single Pob Un Brwydr on 13th February on Halen Records. The release date is no accident: it coincides with Dydd Miwsig Cymru (Welsh Language Music Day).
The title translates into English as Every Single Battle, and vocalist / lyricist Steffan Dafydd tells us, “The song is about being in conflict with yourself – recognising your own hypocrisies and still choosing to push back, even when you know it’s probably hopeless.”
Stylistically, Pob Un Brwydr works efficiently as a calling-card for the band’s signature tone: hard, uncompromising post-punk with deft and well-executed slaloms into stark passages of brittle fragility, bringing a cinematic quality that makes their songs equally fascinating and challenging to listen to, and at times engagingly uncomfortable.
No radio-friendly fifteen-second intro here, the band snap into action from bar one, with three (count ‘em) crushing guitars, sonorous bass and booting drums led by Dafydd’s impassioned lyrics and vocals holding strong sway in the mix. And what lyrics they are:
Ma un rhan ohonoai
angen maddau i’r llall
ond ma’ fy nghorff i’n styfnig
a na’i farw ar yr allt
There is one part of me
that needs to forgive the other
but my body is stubborn
and I will die on the hill
As the song is sung in Welsh – like all BH’s output – English speakers will need to put in a bit of graft to access the full benefits, and herein lies its beauty. The highest compliment I can pay the song is to mention in the same breath as Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares (The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices) by the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir, released in 1952. The fact that nobody outside Bulgaria understands a single word is completely irrelevant, as the wrenching intensity of melody and performance tell the whole tale. Similarly, the mysterious urgency and restraint of this track bring a chill to the soul. Once you allow yourself to be drawn into the heat of their battle, Pob Un Brwydr burrows into your senses and stays there.
I will admit a conflict of interest: I really like this band, having seen them supporting Goldie Lookin Chain in the autumn. This new material is showing an increased confidence and tightness, and they deserve far more praise than I can offer. I challenge you to take up the challenge. You will not be disappointed.
Pob Un Brwydr is available on all major streaming platforms from 13 February.
Bray-ch-ee-aye heer
(ch = hard, guttural ‘ch’ sound, similar to the sound in the Scottish word “loch”)
~
Breichiau Hir dyddiadau teithiau: https://www.breichiauhir.com
Al Maslen occasionally writes for Louder Than War and this is his author profile.
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