Ffydd Gobaith Cariad

Following her success in 2010, when she was named BBC Radio Cymru Female Artist of the Year, Fflur Dafydd is back, with a brand new sound. “Faith Hope Love,” is the fourth album from the Carmarthen-based singer-songwriter, and is a folk-inspired, melodic album, influenced by the likes of John Martyn, James Taylor, and Nanci Griffith, and is described as a “musical family tree,” which pays tribute to many influential people in the singer’s life. The songs include moving songs written in memory of her grandparents, as well as tributes to more well-known figures such as Ray Gravell, the rugby player and broadcaster, who was a great influence on Fflur. There are several instances of songs written for special occasions, such as Fflur’s unique take on the reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. She has also collaborated with the poet Owen Sheers, turning one of his poems into a powerful ballad. And for the first time, Fflur has provided parallel texts in English for the listener to follow in the booklet. These translations also stand as songs in their own right, which is perhaps no surprise considering Fflur Dafydd has been awarded many literary prizes for her novels, including the Prose Medal for Literature and the Oxfam Hay Emerging Writer of the Year Prize in 2009. “I think it’s very important to give people a second take on the song in translation,” Dafydd explains. “I’ve done the same thing with my novels to some extent, rewriting a Welsh-language novel in English with a different audience in mind, and I find that different languages bring out a different quality, or even a different theme in a piece of work, which make the versions very interesting to compare, and of course give you double the options when it comes to performing live.” Despite being pregnant with her second child, Dafydd is busier than ever, and will be launching “Faith Hope Love” at the Hay Festival, in a special gig with Cerys Matthews at the Hay Castle on June 7th, as well as performing in two other events at Hay as a novelist.