Llithro

Yr Ods have always kept us guessing, wondering what comes next, while their old anthems keep our feet moving. Their EP ‘Nid teledu oedd y bai’ in 2010, the album ‘Troi a throsi’ in 2011, and now one of the Welsh scene’s most popular bands present us with their new long-awaited album ‘Llithro’ (lit. “Sliding”). Can you remember the early days? Gruff and Griff with their acoustic guitars at Aberystwyth Uni? Later, Rhys Aneurin joining them on keys, and this year, Osian Rhys passes the drumsticks on to Gwion Llewelyn, Race Horses’ ex-drummer. Their sound reflects a musical journey which is never static, from the racy beat of ‘Ffordd ti’n troi dy lygaid’ to the synth-pop of ‘Siân’. And so the journey brings us to ‘Llithro’, where the sound is “much more raw” according to singer and guitarist Griff Lynch. After a spell working with producer Kris Jenkins, the songs are closer to their natural form, without layers of synth and vocal effects. The singing is once again shared according to the composer, and for the first time the voice of Rhys Aneurin is heard on ‘Haul y Gorllewin’. The themes and lyrics gather more weight at times: more ambiguous and poetic than before. Especially so on ‘Gad i mi lithro’ – a study of what it means to be a young adult in Wales today – a song finishing in a crescendo of crashing guitars, creating one of the band’s more powerful moments. They also play with elements of melodic trip pop, as heard in the softer synthetic beats of ‘Mae rhywbeth yn gorfod digwydd’. But above all, according to Griff, this is an album “to move your head and feet to”. Official Video for ‘Pob un Gair yn Bôs’ by Yr Ods