Regularly rapturous, occasionally sobering; flawless in its entirety.
Rooted within the record’s core are the concepts of self-desolation, denial and despair – meticulously tunnelled into each and every heartfelt melody. Opening up their soundscape without losing sight of their indie-pop signature, ‘Map Meddwl’ anchors on an ambient synth-leathered tone – of which, a polychromatic painting of the quartet emerges.
Latest single and album-opener ‘Middle of Nowhere’ is a calculated nod to the sharp lysergic radiance which largely underpins the album. To the croon of Lewys and the lavishly layered synths, the socio-political concepts of Welsh independence are ponderously meditated. It becomes apparent, even in the album’s infancy, that Yr Eira have taken a leap.
‘Blaguro’ is a self-possessed halcyon, softly coated in delicate intercuts of attenuated falsettos which, despite distant, carves an opulent complexion. There’s a much looser, exaggerated connection at work in lead single ‘Pob Nos’. A vigorous concoction – conglomerated by Howells’ notorious drumming – triggers a relentless pulse. A pulse which is dovetailed by the poignant pregnant pause of ‘Glesni’r Haf’. Amidst the sterilizing haziness, the record’s emotional undertone – one’s acceptance of inevitable change – begins to seep into our consciousness.
Attacking the template who they themselves crafted in debut ‘Toddi’, Yr Eira’s zest for experimenting is expressed. Operating in a darker, thicker vain and injecting some hip-hop swagger into the jungle of riffs, ‘Esgidiau Newydd’ is a groove-marinated spice – magnified due to the aqueous, bubblegum pop of previous track, ‘Glesni’r Haf’.
Capturing a minimal, tender aura is not particularly associated with Yr Eira as they principally offer aforementioned rich complexities. However the close intricacies of elegantly delivered ‘Straeon Byrion’ and ‘Newid’ provides precisely that. Embedded into the latter is the spacious subtlety of a dream drenched velvet progression. Its’ fragile beauty, paralleled by the melancholically morbid delivery makes for an emotionally consuming, glorious heft.
The album’s bank of energy is immortally maintained in its second phase. ‘Galw Ddoe Yn Ôl’ is as strikingly bold as it was first introduced as a single in 2018, although is given a new lease of life in its newly discovered part of a wider jig-saw.
The record’s finest pace and punch is soaked-up in the emphatic blooming of ‘Corporal’ and ‘Caru Cymru’. Reaching its peak, not only instrumentally but in the form of exalted lyrical content, the consecutively emphasized “Oes unrhyw bwynt ‘ni fyw mewn gobaith? Pan fod pawb ‘di colli synnwyr o’u hunaniaeth” is a resonating, record highlight. Amassing a ceremonial finale with its looped chorus and prior stunning harmonies, ‘Map Meddwl’s penultimate attains such singularity to attain the monopoly of Welsh language Indie and beyond. Blodau hardd yn blaguro.