The sly grooves of "Dancing on Volcanoes" are going to draw a lot of folks into this album. And while there's lots here that is just as good, there's also a real variety and breadth of approach here on Utopia that is stunning. Gwenno is carving her own space with this record, totally.
The title cut, about Gwenno's youth in Las Vegas, and a specific nightclub, is lush. Think late era Roxy Music, maybe? The elegant assurance of this one keeps things from being too dreamy, while the clever "London 1757" crams history into its slinky keyboard-accented hooks. Elsewhere, "Y Cath", sung in Welsh, is a cousin to the best material from the first few Broadcast records, while the gorgeous and confidently peppy "Ghost of You" is in English but is about a Cardiff that's constantly changing. A similar vibe exists in "73", a more haunting reverie which deals with Gwenno's own family history in London.
So much of Utopia works so well because of a light/dark dynamic. For the serious numbers ("War"), there are others that are more airy and light. And yet, through that lightness, there's this undercurrent of something lurking in the hooks of this fine album. It's sort of regret, but maybe more like an awareness of, or longing for something gone and rapidly slipping from memory. It's significant that the closing track is called "Hireth", a Welsh word commonly thought to mean a longing for a place you can never return to. The whole album has that feeling running through it, and that gives this material real weight, however lovely the numbers seem on first or second listen. Much as label-mates Saint Etienne did with last year's The Night, Gwenno has served up something that builds significantly upon our thoughts of the past, and how we hold those feelings in our hearts now.
I just love this record!
Utopia by Gwenno is out now via Heavenly Recordings.
[Photo: Clare Marie Bailey]