Pob Nos – Yr Eira
Following plays by both Janice Long (BBC Radio Wales) and Lisa Gwilym (BBC Radio Cymru), Yr Eira share Welsh language single ‘Pob Nos’ (translation: ‘Every Night’), taken from the band’s forthcoming album Map Meddwl (translation: Mind Map) which follows on 15th May via I KA CHING.
Yr Eira describe new single ‘Pob Nos’ as “the collaboration you never knew you needed,” a North-meets-South Wales affair, the song is co-written by and includes guest vocals from Gwyn Rosser, a member of beloved Welsh band Los Blancos, and long-term late-night song-writing partner as well as housemate of Yr Eira’s Lewys Wyn. ‘Pob Nos’ is accompanied by a Masterchef-with-a-difference video featuring the band and directed and produced by Griff Lynch, frontman of Yr Ods and older brother to Wyn, alongside Ryan Eddlestone.
Aptly then, ‘Pob Nos’ is a song about brotherhood, and a tribute to all the music Rosser and Wyn have made unofficially over the years, with ‘Pob Nos’ being the pair’s first released single. It is also a tribute to Ben Kweller, LCD Soundsystem, Super Furry Animals, Waves, Bowie and all the musicians they have spent hours listening to over those years, and musically ‘Pob Nos’ drifts more towards the sound of these artists than it does the quirky indie-pop sound dominating the Welsh radio wave. ‘Pob Nos’ is the sound of David Bowie’s swagger wrapped in a kind of slacker garage band indie-rock, with heartfelt melody and a warm harmony layered with the dulcet Welsh tones of Wyn.
Yr Eira’s new album Map Meddwl, from which the single ‘Pob Nos’ is taken, is a record the band describe as “a collection of ideas used to plan out the direction of someone’s intentions and thoughts”, in essence a mind map as the album title suggests. Lyrical themes drift from heartbreak (in Blaguro) to despair and the struggle to move on (in Straeon Byrion). There’s an analysis of life that runs throughout the album, and how every day can bring something different. It’s the life-long struggle of keeping ones head above water and ones feet firmly on the ground, without letting life become repetitive, with ‘Newid’ and the album’s penultimate song ‘Corporal’ exploring the importance of change in someone’s life, and ultimately the danger of life falling into a rut.
Yr Eira have previously released a debut Colli Cwsg EP (2014) and album Toddi (2017), both receiving much acclaim in Wales and beyond, including support from the BBC with the band part of Radio Wales Horizons 12 Project in 2015, with a Maida Vale session recorded the same year, and continued support from Huw Stephens (BBC Radio 1). Over the last five years they have performed at a number of high-profile festivals including T in the Park, Sound City, Swn Festival, Truck Festival, and Festival No. 6, as well as playing with BBC Pops Orchestra at Eisteddfod (2017).
‘Pob Nos’ and the Map Meddwl album was recorded in Sain Recording Studio with Stiwdio Drwm’s Ifan Emlyn and Osian Huw. It was mixed and mastered by Eddie Al-Shakarchi.
