We are delighted to be celebrating the 50 th anniversary of Planet: the Welsh Internationalist magazine this year. This will culminate in the publication of issue 240 on 1 November 2020, and will be marked by a celebratory party and symposium. The party and symposium will now be postponed until next year, and will be an opportunity to look forward to the next 50 years. In the meantime, we are planning imaginative ways of commemorating half a century of the magazine later in 2020, and will stay in touch as these projects develop.

Planet’s story

“Time and again Planet has taken me upwards and outwards from the fulcrum of Wales to the furthest reaches of discussion and discovery.”

“I know of no other magazine which collates Welsh ideas and values so thoughtfully with intellectual developments in the world at large, and interprets the results in such excellent
journalism.” Jan Morris

Despite the scale suggested by the magazine’s masthead, Planet is run as a micro-organisation, albeit one that seeks to over-reach the limitations of Wales’ political status to offer Welsh perspectives on the world and vice versa. Planet’s authors have included R.S. Thomas, Jan Morris, Raymond Williams, Chinua Achebe, Menna Elfyn, Leo Abse, Gwynfor Evans, Mererid Hopwood and Stevie Davies, and each issue has featured both ground-breaking established authors and emerging talent in its pages.

While sometimes perceived as a ‘cultural magazine’, Planet has always found ways to be a vessel for often radical political perspectives, from the first issue’s opening challenge to the then Secretary of State for Wales George Thomas onwards. The magazine arose out of the publication of The Welsh Extremist: a Culture in Crisis by its founding editor Ned Thomas – an appeal to the English New Left as to why they should be in solidarity with the Welsh-language movement. It has provided a platform for pioneering work on topics from political independence to climate change and species loss – often long before these issues were on the mainstream media agenda.

The magazine has also always had a core role of bridging different cultures within an often very fractured nation. This has sometimes taken the form of bringing Welsh-language material to an English-language readership for the first time in translation, including Saunders Lewis’ seminal Tynged yr Iaith speech, and work by writers including Kate Roberts and J.R. Jones. Latterly this ethos of unifying language cultures has been expressed through our ‘Welsh Keywords’ series, inspired by Keywords – by one of our former Patrons Raymond Williams.

At the same time, from the start, Planet has played an important role in the development of Welsh Writing in English, being one of the first outlets to publish pioneering work from Anglophone areas of Wales by writers including Ron Berry and Alun Richards; and latterly authors such as Rachel Trezise and Gee Williams. Our recent ‘Retracing Wales’ and ‘Reading Between the Lines’ series take the reader on journeys to different corners of Wales, and are examples of how Planet gives insights into very diverse narratives of Welsh experience.

The magazine has also taken a pioneering approach to championing distinctively Welsh visual culture, being an early platform for art critics such as Peter Lord and Osi Rhys Osmond, and continues to offer rigorous critique of Welsh contemporary arts from the most challenging and avant-garde to the most popular.

Planet’s internationalism has taken many forms from the beginning. The magazine has featured articles that connect Wales to other European stateless nations, from a feature by Sartre on the rights of minority language speakers, to works by writers from Catalonia, Brittany, Scotland, Northern Ireland and beyond. Another, recent form of internationalism has been a series that juxtaposes the cultural and political experiences of coalfield communities in Wales and across the world. From the start, when the field of ‘Postcolonial Literature’ was in its infancy, Planet has provided a platform for writers from post-colonial nations worldwide including Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Jean Rhys and Naguib Mahfouz; and in latter years voices representing perspectives from the Global South – India, Cameroon, Iraq, Kurdistan and beyond in the work of (e.g.) Manoranjan Byapari, Eric Ngalle Charles, Rabab Ghazoul and Ciwanmerd Kulek.

In its politics and social justice coverage, Planet has offered unique, in-depth commentary on a tumultuous half century for Wales, chronicling its anxieties and hopes throughout eras of the Cold War, Welsh-language direct-action protest, the emergence of feminism, the Miners’ Strike, Thatcherism, European integration, the development of devolution, the Iraq War, climate change, austerity, the EU referendum, Black Lives Matter and Covid-19, the latter discussed in our new series Breathing Freely: Possibilities for a Post-Pandemic Society.

Since 2009 we have published topical features, podcasts and videos online as Planet Extra, and in 2016 launched Planet Platform – a dedicated online space for work by students we have mentored in writing for publication. Our role in fostering the next generation of journalists and writers is also manifested in our annual Young Writers’ Essay Competition.

This inter-generational dialogue on the past and future of Wales will be marked through several special features in our 2020 celebratory issue, which will be published at the beginning of November.

Planet is published with the financial support of the Books Council of Wales and the Public Interest News Foundation. It is hosted within Aberystwyth University, and receives financial sponsorship from the School of English, Communication and Philosophy, and the School of Journalism, Media Studies and Cultural Studies at Cardiff University. For more information about Planet, please see our website: www.planetmagazine.org.uk

What others say about Planet

“Planet is an outstanding publication that is absolutely vital to the public sphere in Wales.” Desolation Radio’s Dan Evans.

For more testimonials about Planet, from figures including Charlotte Williams, Mike Parker, Menna Elfyn, Jan Morris and Rachel Trezise see https://planetmagazine.org.uk/endorsements

Media Enquiries

If you would like to feature coverage of our 50 th anniversary celebrations, or to arrange an event in conjunction with our anniversary, please contact Emily Trahair (editor) at
emily.trahair@planetmagazine.org.uk

.. .

Ani Glass announces her new ' Ynys Araul'  EP released through  Recordiau Neb  on the 11th of September. As well as the title track it includes three new remixes; one by electronic legends  OMD,  plus versions   by  Seka  and  Venus on the Half Shell.  

'Ynys Araul'  is lifted from Glass' debut album  MIRORES   which was released this spring to a very warm reception. In August it was also announced as the Welsh Language Album of the Year at this year's National Eisteddfod resulting in the  BBC National Orchestra of Wales  performing two of her songs.

'Ynys Araul'  (which means  'Serenity' ) is woven with Glass's infectious yet ethereal vocals and haunting melodies, underpinned by kaleidoscopic synths and rolling mechanical loops. Glass says  "Ynys Araul is not only about love and loss but also expands on the album's overall themes of movement and progress. It discusses how our memories and emotions are often connected to certain places and presents the bewildering impact of development on your sense of self when those places change or disappear."   

With its tapestry of electronic sounds, MIRORES takes us on a journey around her hometown of Cardiff. You can hear Ani’s recorded sounds of the urban landscape throughout; the movement of traffic and people and the magical yet infrequent sounds of nature coming together to create the score of a city’s symphony. All of which – especially at present - seem like a distant memory, adding a certain sense of nostalgia to the album.   

MIRORES also represents Ani’s first foray into production having been inspired by her experience of working with  Martin Rushent  during her time as member of indie-pop group  The Pipettes . Glass' sound is inspired by many leading electronic and avant-garde artists and producers of the 1980s including  Giorgio Moroder, Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre  and  Arthur Russell  whilst the album’s wider themes are inspired in part by the works of abstract painter Agnes Martin and the author and activist Jane Jacobs.   

"Ani’s tracks draw from dancey electro-pop, with production that’s sharp and clean, pushing shimmering vocals and bright synths to the forefront." Dazed   

"A super-sweet electro-pop stomper with some stunning choral vocal work and a soaring chorus to melt even the stoniest of hearts." The Quietus

Cardiff based musical collective Ghostlawns release their second single 'Ffoi' (pronounced ph- o-ee) digitally through Bandcamp and streaming services on 4 September 2020, taken from their forthcoming debut album 'Motorik' (30 October 2020).

'Ffoi' (which means “flee”) features motoric guitar riffs, ambient synth waves and vocals with live drums to offer a contrasting sound to the band’s debut single, 'Breaking Out'.

Ghostlawns have featured at showcase festivals including Focus Wales and Swn and have contributed songs for the Hope Not Hate and Iechyd Da (Gorky's Zygotic Mynci tribute) compilation albums.

Ghostlawns have finished recording their debut album 'Motorik' with Charlie Francis (REM, Robyn Hitchcock), which will be released via SUB Records on 30th October 2020.

Their first single 'Breaking Out and album taster “Y Gorwel” received radio play on the BBC, and across the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany and Italy.

They are all active members of the Welsh music scene, playing in bands including Right Hand Left Hand, Gulp, Gentle Good, Cotton Wolf, Manchuko and with Can legend Damo Suzuki.

Album Sampler:  https://soundcloud.com/ghostlawns/sets/motorik-album-sampler

Web: https://www.ghostlawns.net/

Social media:

https://www.facebook.com/GhostlawnsCF

https://twitter.com/ghostlawnsCF

https://www.instagram.com/ghostlawnscf/

Derw started as a project between songwriter Dafydd Dabson and his mum Anna Georgina, a lyricist, after they got to the final of S4C songwriting competition Can i Gymru in 2018 and decided to keep writing together. The band is fronted by Welsh/Iranian singer Elin Fouladi and their debut EP 'Yr Unig Rhai Sy'n Cofio' involves musicians from Welsh acts Zervas and Pepper, Afrocluster and Codewalkers.

Drawing on chamber pop influences like The National and Elbow, the band has a strong connection with the past and their family history and is named after Anna's father - Derwas. Their family is full of interesting stories and 'Yr Unig Rhai Sy'n Cofio' (The Only Ones Who Remember) is about making sure these stories are recorded and remembered.

The track 'Mikhail' is about a friend Derwas met while studying in Jerusalem in 1926. Mikhail grew up in Russia and his father was part of the imperial navy. One night in 1917, when Mikhail was nine and his mother was away, the Bolsheviks came to his house, took his father into another room and shot him. Mikhail then moved to Palestine with his mother and, when he was 19, met Derwas, a student from Oxford. They then spent years exploring the wilderness together and trying to find peace.

The lyrics for 'Silver', the final track of the EP, are taken from a poem written by Anna's mother in the 1930s. She loved writing and had notebooks full of poetry she'd written. She tried several times to get them published but never managed it so it gives Anna and Dafydd a huge amount of pleasure to be able to make use of one of them now.

Derw’s first single, ‘Dau Gam’, came out in May on CEG Records. It was made ‘Track of the Week’ on BBC Radio Cymru as well as getting airplay on BBC Radio Wales.

The band’s second single, ‘Ble Cei Di Ddod i Lawr’ is out on the 28th of August on CEG Records.
..

'Anthemic' - Golwg

'A bridge from the past to the present...Stunningly beautiful' - Mob York City Blog

'Hyfryd' - Ffion Davis, BBC Radio Cymru

'This song allowed me to truly be connected and in the moment' - Indie Pulse Music

'Tender and fills the mind with bright emotions. Fouladi's vocals are intoxicating' - Too Much Love Magazine

..

Cyrhaeddodd Dafydd Dabson a'i fam, Anna Georgina, rownd terfynol cystadleuaeth Can i Gymru yn 2018, y tro gyntaf iddyn nhw ysgrifennu gyda'i gilydd - ac allan o’r brofiad yma tyfodd Derw. Elin Fouladi, cantores Gymraeg/Iraniad, sydd ar flaen y band, gyda’i EP cyntaf, ’Yr Unig Rhai sy'n Cofio’ yn cynnwys cyfraniadau gan gerddorion o Zervas and Pepper, Afrocluster a Codewalkers.

Mae Derw wedi ei ddylanwadu gan fandiau pop siambr fel The National ac Elbow ac mae ganddynt gysylltiad cryf gyda'r gorffennol a hanes eu teulu, yn cymeryd ei enw gan tad Anna - Derwas. Mae’r teulu yn llawn straeon cyfareddol, a bwriad ’Yr Unig Rhai Sy'n Cofio’ yw sicrhau bod nhw'n aros mewn cof.

Mae'r trac ‘Mikhail’ yn son am ffrind Derwas a ddaru o gyfarfod yn Jerwsalem yn 1926. Cafodd Mikhail ei fagu yn Rwsia, a'i dad yn gomander yn y Lynges Ymerodrol. Un noson yn 1917, tra oedd ei fam i ffwrdd, cyrhaeddodd y Bolsieficiaid ei dy, mynd a'i dad i ystafell arall, a'i saethu. Symudodd Mikhail a'i fam i Balesteina, a pan oedd Mikhail yn 19 cyfarfododd a Derwas, myfyriwr o Rydychen. Treuliodd y ddau sawl blwyddynyn crwydro'r anialwch gyda’i gilydd, yn chwilio am heddwch.

Mae geiriau ‘Silver’, trac olaf yr EP, yn dod o farddoniaeth a ysgrifenwyd yn y tridegau gan Mary, mam Anna. Bu wrth ei bodd yn sgwennu, a llanwodd sawl llyfryn a'i cherddi, ond er bod hi wedi ceisio mwy nag unwaith cyhoeddi ei gwaith, llwyddodd hi ddim. Felly, mae'n bleser aruthrol i Anna a Dafydd ddefnyddio nhw nawr.

Mi ddaeth sengl gyntaf Derw, ‘Dau Gam’, allan yn mis Mai ar CEG Records. Gafodd ei wneud yn ‘Drac yr Wythnos’ ar BBC Radio Cymru yn ogystal a cael ei chwarae ar BBC Radio Wales.

Mae ail sengl y band, ‘Ble Cei Di Ddod i Lawr’ allan ar y 28fed o fis Awst ar CEG Records.
..

'Anthemig' - Golwg

'A bridge from the past to the present...Stunningly beautiful' - Mob York City Blog

'Hyfryd' - Ffion Davis, BBC Radio Cymru

'This song allowed me to truly be connected and in the moment' - Indie Pulse Music

'Tender and fills the mind with bright emotions. Fouladi's vocals are intoxicating' - Too Much Love Magazine

..

https://www.derwband.com/

https://www.instagram.com/derwband/

https://twitter.com/DerwBand

https://www.facebook.com/DerwBand

https://soundcloud.com/derwband

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQb3a9tZuQo2QrhbA_DFvhg

' SWITCH'  - The brand new single by Welsh singer-songwriter SERA (Sera Zyborska).Once again working with acclaimed producer Andi Crutwell-Jones, plus the notable contribution of Nico CJ on violin and Len Whitehead on Electric guitar makes a full-sounding, statement of a song that again blends all  SERA's  favourite parts of Americana, folk and pop with her storytelling and folklore album theme.

'SWITCH'  is a bolt out of the dark, a harsh awakening. Empowerment.
 
Her album songs are all drawn from folklore and  SWITCH  is no different, drawing inspiration from Steam-punk, Frankenstein and the 'Freak Lab-accident' trope of the comic superhero.
SERA's  music is rooted in folk, Americana, singer-songwriter, with this track taking a further leap into energetic pop.
 
Praise for 'Switch'   

'Switch' has been recently added to  BBC Radio Wales  A-List Playlist.

'Switch is full of dark magic, bold and energetic, Bewitching and full of surprises'
-  Voidd Music Blog  
 
SERA 'When I Wake Up' Album   The brand new album by SERA is out on CD July 31st (pre-orders from July 17th) and on digital and streaming platforms from August 14th. The album is a collection of 11 tracks, all inspired by folklore. This album takes a little bit of folk, Americana, singer-songwriter and pop and mixes it in a musical cauldron!


Physical Copies of 'When I Wake Up' (Available 31st July)   
https://sera-songs.bandcamp. com/    https://www.cegrecords.com/ sera  

'When I Wake Up' Released Digitally on 14th August.  

Virtual Album Launch Party: 14th August Facebook LIve
https://www.facebook.com/ events/790824428120019  

SERA BIO  

A pianist, guitar player and a singer-songwriter, SERA (Sera Zyborska) has been writing, recording and performing in both English and Welsh for a while. Over the last couple of years, SERA has spent time in the studio working and writing with producer Andi Crutwell-Jones, looking at the real stories she wanted to tell with a sound that matched her ambition. The result is a collection of songs inspired by anxiety, love, nostalgia, ancestry, witches, ships and lost worlds. It's all there.

Having grown up in Caernarfon, North Wales, a place steeped in history, culture, between the Snowdonia Mountains and the Irish sea, you could understand her love of folklore and how landscape is a big source of inspiration behind her music.
 
SERA  was selected as a  BBC Horizons  artist for 2019-2020, and played a live session in the legendary  BBC Maida Vale Studios .  SERA  is also a part of new Americana band  TAPESTRI  with Lowri Evans and folk duo  EVE & SERA  with Eve Goodman. She has a band in Cardiff as well as a function band in North Wales called  SUSPECTS  


'SERA is clearly proven to be a sheer multi-talent with her new upcoming release.
With a clever Welsh hook and angelic voice combined to give a sing-and-dance-along musical audacity to every chord progression'  – Jammerzine  

'....distinctive and powerful'  - Folk Radio   

'SERA has been weaving together stories with an Americana rootsy twang which has so far earned her comparisons to Amanda Palmer and Joni Mitchell'.  - PRS for Music  

"Sera Owen is a singer-songwriter from Caernarfon, now living in Cardiff. A recent recipient of a Lyndsey Du Paul PRS for Music prize for emerging women songwriters. She writes and performs in both English and Welsh. Her last album, ‘Little Girl,’ which had Americana and folk influences, received praise from BBC 6 Music – “A beautiful gem of a song” (Chris Hawkins) and Folk Radio UK, among many – “A thoroughly absorbing journey from start to finish.”  - Festival No 6  
 
Sera Website:  https://www. serasongs.com/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/ Serasongs
Facebook:   https://www. facebook.com/Serasongs/
Instagram:   https://www. instagram.com/serasongs/
Spotify:   https://open.spotify. com/artist/ 2R4Pz7h7LHtxHObkJB8ifb

Sera (from Caernarfon) and Lowri (from Newport Pembs) will be especially familiar to Welsh music audiences as two bilingual singer-songwriters that have been writing, performing and recording as solo artists for some time. Between them they have been championed on BBC 6 Music, Radio 2, performed everywhere from Greenman, Festival Number 6, from King Tut’s to the Union Chapel; From Wales to America to France, which is as it happens, where the two met for the first time last year, performing at the Welsh Pavilion at the Lorient Celtic festival in August 2019.

This first meeting sparked an idea to form a female fronted band and to create their own brand of Americana; an act that could headline  and  represent women’s voices. Inspired by  The Highwomen  , a US ‘supergroup’ featuring Brandi Carlile and Amanda Shires, who formed as a response to the lack of representation of women artists on country music radio and festivals.  

Their songs take their musical colours from a broad palette that includes Americana, Roots, Folk and Country, all beautifully knitted together through their innate musicality and heartfelt delivery. 

AmeriCymru spoke to Sera Zyborksa about the new band and their plans for the future.

Two of Wales best known singer songwriters have come together to form a newAmeriCymru: Hi Sera and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. Care to introduce your new band Tapestri for our readers?

Sera: Of course! Tapestri is a bilingual Americana band fronted by myself (Sera Zyborksa) and singer-songwriter Lowri Evans. I live in Llanfairpwll in Anglesey and Lowri is in Trefdraeth in Pembrokeshire. We’ve both been solo artists for years, releasing music in Welsh and English. This collaboration brings together our ‘roots’ influences, and the whole drive behind the project is to have confident female voices singing about the things that really matter to us and move us. We’ve got a bit of inspiration from Brandi Carlile, First Aid Kit, Sheryl Crow to name a few. The whole vibe of the band is very much inspired by The Highwomen, which is a US all-women supergroup that formed last year in response to the lack of support form women on Country Radio. They don’t just sing sad love songs and they don’t ‘play it safe’ - they write songs about all kinds of topics and their music manages to be both heartfelt and get you on your feet, make you think but also make you feel really good!

"We think that the fact we also sing in Welsh brings a nice Celtic flavour to our brand of Americana and is so important to who we both are."

That’s what we are also trying to do. We love the confident attitude of the artists involved in that project and felt like it resonated with us. We want to put on a great show too, and so the music we’ve been working on so far has a lot of light and shade. Some songs sound great with just acapella; two voices in harmony, while others have a full country band sound and have been so much fun in rehearsals. We think that the fact we also sing in Welsh brings a nice Celtic flavour to our brand of Americana and is so important to who we both are. Tapestri as a name represents the blending of our musical tastes and our personal experiences. The logo itself depicts trees with roots, and this is a nod to the folk and roots origins of our music.

AmeriCymru: When and where did you and Lowri meet and decide to form the band?

Sera: So although Lowri and I have been making music and performing for years as solo artists here in Wales, I don't think we've ever played on the same line-up as each other, which is actually quite strange. There are a lot of similarities between us, both acoustic bilingual acts, and I would have thought our paths would have crossed long before now! We are based in opposite ends of Wales, so that might have something to do with it, but also many festivals unfortunately don't tend to book too many women on their line up. And as it happens, was one of the driving forces behind forming Tapestri. It’s an issue we bonded over when we first met, backstage at the Welsh Pavilion in the Lorient Interceltic Festival last year in August 2019. Lowri was there performing with her partner Lee and I was there on my own, as a last minute addition to the line up that year. It was nice to talk to another woman in the ‘folk/singer-songwriter’ music scene who seemed to share many of my frustrations, goals and drive. After coming home, I remember  feeling really inspired, musically, ready to take on the world, and wanting to start something new, something exciting.

"I remember talking to my husband about wanting to form an all-woman Americana band. I started thinking of who could be in it. I thought of Lowri."

I remember talking to my husband about wanting to form an all-woman Americana band. I started thinking of who could be in it. I thought of Lowri. At about the same time, I got a message from Lowri on Facebook asking if I'd be interested in forming an all-woman Americana band. It was really weird indeed! But obviously something was going on here, and I think we both felt that it was something that had to happen. We decided to have a writing session and see if it would lead anywhere. Soon after that Lowri came up to my house in Llanfairpwll, and we spent the weekend writing songs. I think we wrote 4 songs, all really different to each other, and it seemed to be working! It was a really interesting process. Spending so much time with someone new and trying to write really honest songs together requires you to get to know each other fast! Wine helped, as did just talking and listening to music! It made the songwriting bit come quite painlessly then, and it all felt quite organic. Which was quite the thing considering we barely knew each other at that point. After that, I went down to Trefdraeth a few times and we started laying down some tracks, making plans and pretty soon we were officially ‘Tapestri’! By Christmas, we had Lowri’s partner Lee Mason on bass and drummer Iwan Hughes on board and we had our first jam. It sounded great! Plans were put in motion for some February launch gigs and we were all set!

AmeriCymru: How difficult has it been launching a new musical project against the background of the Covid 19 crisis?

Sera:   Everything seemed to be going so well in the latter part of 2019 that we felt 2020 was going to be epic for us! We were due to launch the band in February at a theatre show. We had worked so hard to rehearse our set, meeting halfway between North and South Wales in an old school hall several times, near Machynlleth. I'd been down to Pembroke a few times, and we'd started recording our EP and booked our summer tour already. We put in a lot of hours in a very short space of time. But the morning of our launch gig was the morning after Storm Ciara hit the UK. We got a call saying that the theatre had severe weather damage. So that was rearranged for July. We were disappointed, but it gave us more time to get the EP ready for the July gig and put on an even better show. Of course, the July show hasn’t happened either, so we’ve still not officially ‘launched’ Tapestri. That show, along with every other date we had in our diary for the summer was cancelled. From festivals to theatres. All gone. What's more, due to travel restrictions, I couldn't drive to Pembroke to carry on recording our EP either. Literally everything had to come to a halt after such a whirlwind few months. 

"It’s now more than ever that bands and artists should pull together and try to support each other as much as we can."

Who knows when we'll be able to play again. However, every band is in a similar situation. So it’s not as though we are alone in this. It’s now more than ever that bands and artists should pull together and try to support each other as much as we can. Help each other promote our music online, even just saying kind words and watching each other’s virtual gigs helps keep with morale. One good thing is that a lot of the groundwork has been done with Tapestri. The band exists, we have plans in place, but on hold, so soon as we can, we’ll hit the ground running again.

AmeriCymru: What can you tell us about your first recording 'Y Fflam'?

Sera: Y Fflam (‘The Flame’ in English) will be the first single from Tapestri. It’s ‘Track of the week’ on BBC Radio Cymru from July 20th and then it’s released on all digital platforms on Friday the 24th of July. We really felt it was important to put something out during this time of limbo for us. We recorded a song called 'Open Flame' a while ago - It was one of the first songs we wrote together on that first weekend of songwriting I mentioned earlier.  A little while ago we translated that song into Welsh and called it ‘Y Fflam’. The song is probably the most poetic and ethereal we’ve written, and that made it easy to write a Welsh version. It’s a song about a feeling, a sensation, rather than an event or specific experience, so the translation didn’t need to be completely literal. Although the story and the message remains the same; being drawn to something that may not necessarily be good for us and learning to let go.  

We have a lot of light and shade in our set, with many of the songs really upbeat and fun to play, but Y Fflam is not one of those. It’s one of the most satisfying songs to perform though, as it relies totally on mine and Lowri’s vocals connecting and communicating the emotion behind the song and in fact, the language it’s sung in doesn’t seem to matter. It felt like a fitting song to release for the time we're in and also a nice way to introduce Tapestri, which at its heart is 2 women’s voices coming together. On a practical level, as the music was already recorded, we just had to re-record the vocals in Welsh, which we had to do separately of course. Making a music video for it was a challenge as again, we had to film apart. 

AmeriCymru: What's next for Tapestri. Any new recordings / gigs in the works?

Sera:   Ideally, we want to finish the EP and get it out for Christmas. If we can sort a tour out for it for the New Year, we will. At the moment everything is so up in the air and we have to take each day as it comes right now until we know when the UK will be able to have live music again. But we're keeping the creative channels open and we're focusing on launching the band with the single at the moment. This isn’t a project with an end date on it but something we see as a long term partnership, so a little pause right now won’t change our plans. We both write a lot, so we foresee an album in the future. We also are very keen to head out to the States and Canada as our music would probably find a good audience there, being Americana! We also want to explore other European and international scenes - I think the fact that we are a bilingual band opens our music up to different audiences and those interested in languages. 

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Sera:   We’d love to hear from Americymru readers and members what they think of our first song and if there would be a welcome for us Stateside!

Lowri and I would also like to send our love and best wishes to you all during these uncertain times and thank each and every body who has supported independent musicians during this time, whether it's liking their facebook posts or buying CDs. It all means a lot. 

It would be great if you could follow us on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook etc.

You can find us across social media @tapestrimusic

And there are a few videos you can watch on -  Youtube

Here’s the pre-save link to ‘Y Fflam:’ -  Y Fflam