Radio Luxembourg
Diwrnod efo’r Anifeiliaid
Diwrnod efo’r Anifeiliaid is the third release from (shockingly) Welsh band Radio Luxembourg. I will admit, in my philistine-like way, I’d never heard an EP in which the majority of the songs were in Welsh before. All except the opening track ‘Diweddglo’, in fact. This leaves me free to state that, lyrically, I have virtually no idea what Meilyr Jones and his cohorts are singing about.
For me, this is not a negative thing. For one, I’ve learnt that Welsh, whatever the actual lyrical content, is an astonishingly beautiful, lyrical language. For another, it left me free to focus on the neat, intricate instrumentation of these tracks, and how well they had been formed as pieces of music. Despite their short length, none of these songs are mere throwaways. Everything here sounds deliberate and important.
The relaxed groove of ‘Diwrnod efo’r Anifeiliaid’ is a highlight, as backing vocals swoon in and out of the mix, while the more insistent nature of ‘Eli Haul’ is a joy to listen to, with its clever synth leads.
Radio Luxembourg are certainly on to a good thing here. Whether they can transmit this into sales, with their idiosyncratically psychedelic sound, is another matter. Super Furry Animals main man Gruff Rhys has made singing in Welsh cool again in recent times, so it’s certainly a possibility, but, whatever language they are using, Radio Luxembourg bring just plain good songs to the table.
Guest article from Haydon S.
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