Solas is the latest chapter in the Adwaith story, their most adventurous, vivid, forward-looking, connected work yet. The 23-track double album is a document to literal and creative growth, taking in different moods and textures that enchant and intrigue at every turn.
It completes a coming-of-age trilogy that began in 2018 with the Welsh Music Prize-winning album Melyn, followed by 2022’s Bato Mato. The albums chart the band’s literal journey far from home, chronicling the trio’s transformation from teenagers into empowered women, exploring themes of self-discovery, escape, and resilience. Solas courses with unity, hope over struggle, embracing both the inner child and community of home, propelled by movement, vision and progress.
Solas means “light of being” or “enlightenment” in Celtic, finding the light after darkness. The album tells a story of overcoming life’s challenges—be it heartbreak, isolation, or depression—and emerging stronger, more self-aware and connected to one’s roots.
“It’s about finding that home, and that safe space, within yourself,” shares Hollie Singer, “and rediscovering what makes your inner child happy.” Recorded across diverse locations—including the Outer Hebrides in Scotland, Lisbon in Portugal, and multiple studios in Wales—Solas reflects Adwaith’s evolution as artists.
From the moment Hollie Singer, Gwenllian Anthony and Heledd Owen formed Adwaith ten years ago the notion of home has always been close. First influenced by the counterculture music scene of their Carmarthen hometown, and the Welsh-language bands who passed through the doors of iconic local venue The Parrot, the band felt an desire to escape their hometown early on, but the pulse of Camarthen has always remained.
But sonically Solas looks beyond the women’s geographical borders, revealing a rich depth of influences to create a world spinning with different sonic experiments and references so much wider, from ABBA, Bjork, The Cure, Lizzy Mercier Descloux, the sounds of West Africa and the Turkish avant-garde. Yet at its heart its still resolutely, Adwaith.
From opener ‘Planed’ it’s clear Adwaith are forging further into bolder, more eclectic directions. Like a train speeding through the outer reaches of Europe, with a bleeping analogue-synth mainframe, bounding drums and chiming Eastern tones it ushers in a breeze of change and call to action. We sail into ‘Mwy,’ a reflection on reconnecting with one’s homeland and finding belonging within one’s community, “finding our tribe” as Hollie puts it. A rare groove of bubbling kinetic energy, dappling keyboards, nimble percussion, catchy mantra-like lyrics and glowing harmonies, it offers a new dimension on Adwaith’s ever-evolving and intriguing sound.
“The use of Cymraeg throughout Solas feels natural, truthful, and necessary,” shares Gwenllian Anthony. “We wanted listeners to feel something instinctive and emotional in the music, whether or not they understood every word. Just as much as the lyrics tell a story, the musicality itself is a way of speaking, one that we hope resonates on a deeply emotional level.” This is reflected in the more muted and enveloping ‘Tristwch’ , simply gorgeous, hanging heavy with a wistful melancholy holding the weight of depression and night time anxieties. An acceptance that you can face whatever thrown at you. Whether you understand the language or not, the songs’ emotional resonance is undeniable.
The grooving ‘Gofyn’ with chanted refrains underpinned by African-inspired rhythms, and decorated in glowing melodies and great big gleaming sawing string stings and dexterous piano runs, explores the emotional toll of toxic relationships. The sweeping title track is spine-tinging with magical harmonies, dynamic, widescreen shifts and swooping vocals of Hollie and Gwen. The use of Welsh language is exceptional, each word is enunciated with a fierce and steely-eyed intensity, underpinned by rippling bass lines and skittering drums. Absolutely glorious.
Embracing both vulnerability and joy, Solas explores themes of escape from the “city” life of London and Cardiff, contrasting this with the wild beauty of their rural home. ‘Heddiw / Yfory’ overflows with so many hooks, it captures you into its web. The band’s magical melodic heart, uses language to craft the most beautifully poigniant lines and affectionate playing that honours the comforting familiarity of West Wales landscapes, echoing a deep nostalgia for the past and optimism for the future.
‘Purdan’ is thrilling with scurrying riffing, reverberating drums barrel forward, supercharged with illuminating melodies that only Adwaith can conjure, it has echoes of early Super Furry Animals, but fused to avant-garde influences of psychedelia, disappearing into a heady wormhole, where the party awaits. ‘Miliwn’ is ripe with positivity and celebration. The insistent dancing percussion, buzzing guitar, kinetic percussion and melodic interplay joyously explodes in the chorus, balancing the light and darkness, embracing your inner child, finding out what makes you feel joy again. It “encourages you to give your energy and love to people and places that make you feel good. It’s a reminder to celebrate your small wins and romanticise your life in any way you can.” ‘
‘Addo‘ – Welsh for Promise – takes influence from the alt-pop of the likes of Breeders and Liz Phair, a subtle yet affecting dynamic riven with twists and turns teases and reveals its face, and is no less addictive for it. As plaintive verses backed by acoustic guitars give way to a spring-heeled pre-chorus with the addition of James Dean Bradfield’s chugging then glimmering guitars, it bounds into a sprightly and infectious chorus with all three members’ entwined vocals spiralling. Pouring forth with an enveloping chorus, the result is both hopeful and cathartic.
‘Deffro,’ draws Solas to an end with a melancholic yet inspirational close, as reverberating drums and thick atmospheric textures frame Hollie’s exquisite vocal as she vividly guides listeners through memories of childhood, with a sterling emotional heft.
Solas is the culmination of a decade-long quest, looking inward to find the answers to the challenges of the outside world, a record that calls for unity in the face of chaos and division. “I feel like we’re confident in ourselves as musicians, and our sound, and the world that we want to create,” says Hollie Singer. “We feel fully realised.” And yes, it exudes an air of supernatural confidence and defiance of young women who have nurtured their craft over years, plugged in, free to experiment and push their songwriting past historical boundaries. If there is a glass ceiling for Welsh music, Adwaith smash through it. Solas is an awe-inspiring document to a band that continually travels onwards, the bold forward-looking sound of a new Wales.
Photo credit: Aled Llywelyn
