9BACH: Anian

Format: 2CD
Genre: World Music
Label: Pias UK/Real World
Release Date: 30.04.2016
Order Number: ZR39138362

9Bach will release their third album ‘Anian‘ on 29 April 2016 via Real World Records. While their last album Tincian – BBC Radio 2 Folk Award 2015 Winner of Best Album – commemorated stories from the past, Anian explores more contemporary themes. As singer, composer and pianist Lisa Jên explains, the album comes from a desperate, anarchic place. “It marks where I’m at, whether it’s my age, being a mother, or simply being much more exposed to social media where I’m faced with pictures and videos, images and words which I find difficult to cope with right now.” The eleven songs move from the rolling rhythms of Llyn Du to the piano settings of Ifan and Deryn, the layered voices of Brain and Si Hwi Hwi to the full band Near-Eastern climax of Cyfaddefa. At the centre is always Lisa Jên’s voice, and the instinctive way in which 9Bach work together. “The songs always start with the vocal melody,” says Martin Hoyland. “Then it’s my job to build the instrumentation and arrangements around that, and to compliment it as much as possible.” 9bach-announce-new-album-anian-insetAnian is a Welsh word meaning nature, the natural order, natural morality, the natural world, creation. What you are made of, your soul and bones, and how you connect with other people. The double CD package includes companion piece Yn dy lais / In your voice, where writers, actors, poets and singers – Peter Gabriel, Maxine Peake and Rhys Ifans among them – give their own interpretations of the songs as a way to convey the meaning to a non-Welsh speaking audience.