Y Dail drip fed singles from lockdown onwards Y Tywysog a’r Teigr’ (‘The Prince and the Tiger’), O’n i’n Meddwl bodd Ti’n Mynd I Fod Yn Wahanol‘‘ (I Thought You Were Gonna Be Different) ‘Whizz Kids‘ , before sharing debut album Teigr (Tiger) this year. The record is a true accomplishment in quality songwriting and a refusal to see limits, pulling on a range of influences naturally stumbled across; a collection of alt pop songs, vintage keyboards and buzzy guitars, intelligent often surreal lyrical imagery and storytelling underpinned by joyful melody.
Longlisted for Welsh Music Prize 2024, Teigr won God Is In The TV’s Neutron Prize.
Y Dail’s songwriter and singer Huw Griffiths talks us through the recording of the record.
Recording the first single, Y Tywysog a’r Teigr (The Prince and the Tiger)
Here’s me and my sister Elen, who played bass, recording our first single in Musicbox, Cardiff. It was the first time we’d been in a proper studio, the first time I’d worked with Kris Jenkins (Super Furry Animals, Gruff Rhys, Cate La Bon, H Hawkline). A great day.
Y Tywysog a’r Teigr video-shoot
Filming the first video for ‘Y Tywysog a’r Teigr’ (‘The Prince and the Tiger’) in Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd, autumn 2020. I used to go there a lot as a kid; it was a place of imagination for me, a magical place with an old Victorian bandstand.
Recording O’n i’n Meddwl Bod Ti’n Mynd i Fod Yn Wahanol
Sitting on the floor trying out sounds for what became our second single, ‘Meddwl‘. We weren’t going to release it but we were in the second lockdown, and it was the only recording we had that was complete. I finalised the mix over the phone with Krissy and put it out. Then Marc Riley picked up on it, which I hadn’t expected because it’s essentially a put-down song in Welsh!
Playing as a duo with Elen
Elan Evans (of Cardiff venue Clwb Ifor Bach at the time) asked us to support Papur Wal, so we played as a duo, me and my sister who was fifteen at the time – guitar, keyboards and drum machine. It went down well; nerve wracking but thrilling. Elan Evans been an important champion of the band from early days. To start playing live, even as a two piece, was an important thing. It got the ball rolling.
Kris Jenkins’s studio – recording Dyma Kim Carsons (This is Kim Carsons)
This is in Kris Jenkins’s studio, recording the vocal for ‘Dyma Kim Carsons‘. It was just before the second lockdown, a cold and wet December. It’s great to think that something good came out of that pretty bleak time. We’d just done the guitar solo for the song on one of Cate Le Bon’s old guitars that was lying around, a bit wonky like something from a pawn shop. Kris stuck it through some pedals until it sounded like Os Mutantes.
Recording Clancy at Grassroots studio
It was great to do some recording at Grassroots, Cardiff, because of its association with Young Marble Giants and the post-punk scene in Cardiff in the late 70s.
Kris and me
This is me and Krissy after the final mix of the final track for Teigr, ‘My Baby’s in the FBI‘, in April 2023. It took a year for the album to come out for one reason and another, which was a bit frustrating, but there you go.
Live outfit
This is the live version of Y Dail, which has been together for a year – Jess Pritchard on bass, Morgan James on keys and Sam Saunders on drums. I love playing with these guys and we’ve had some great experiences together. Most of the current set is new material.
Read our interview with Huw about Teigr here
Clwb Ifor Bach photo credit: Gareth Bull
