Tag: Filkin’s Drift

We’re very late with this album for which I apologise to Seth Bye and Chris Roberts most sincerely. Seth and Chris are Filkin’s Drift and their debut album, Glan, came together over the course of their walk along the Wales Coastal Path and playing 53 gigs along the way. That’s 870 miles, by the way, and if you have the stamina to do that, I’m damn sure that I don’t and probably never did. Seth plays fiddle and Chris does the singing and plays the guitar which he manages to make sound like a harp sometimes while Seth also displays an impressive pizzicato technique.

The majority of the material is traditional with one or two tunes written by Seth and Chris and all but one of the songs are in Welsh, the exception being the closing ‘The Water Is Wide’. The opener is ‘Adar Mân y Mynydd’, a love song based on the idea of a nightingale and a lark being the go-between two lovers. Perhaps the symbolism of night and day also play a part because the lady is dying and the birds must carry that message to her lover. ‘Gwêl Yr Adeilad’ is a stately tune that first appeared in Playford until the Welsh co-opted it.

‘Hiraeth’ is a word that we’ve discussed before but it’s also a traditional song. Hiraeth is the only word that isn’t translated from the original Welsh but the lyrics, in translation,do give a full explanation of the term. ‘Craig y Ddinas’ was collected in the 19th century and is paired with the first original composition in the set, Seth’s ‘The Miller’s Pond’. This piece may give us a hint about where Filkin’s Drift’s music is heading. Chris’ guitar has been “prepared” according to the notes but we’re not told how although the sound produced is certainly distinctive, especially towards the end when Seth’s fiddle takes off on its own flight of fancy,

‘Clay, Nature And Us’ is inspired by the work of ceramicist Grant Sonnex and is followed by ‘Bugeilio’r Gwenith Gwyn’, another 19th century song based on a true story about a boy who guards the wheat. What it is being guarded against isn’t made clear but the relatively simple tune is supported by a delightfully complex arrangement. We move into England for the Cotswold morris tune, ‘My Pretty Little Highland Mary’ and ‘The Gloucester Hornpipe’ which is paired with another of Seth’s own compositions, ‘Touchpaper’, for the longest track on the album.

After climbing the Great Orme, Seth and Chris composed ‘Tudno’s’, named for the church where they performed it that same evening for the first time and they finish with their own unique setting of ‘The Water Is Wide’.

You can listen to Glan superficially just for the pleasure of hearing some nice music but as you listen more you begin to appreciate the complexity of what Filkin’s Drift are doing. I suspect that you have to hear them playing live to fully understand what they are about. There is room for studio trickery on a record and I think that I sometimes detect some multi-tracking but I’m not actually sure. The playing is stunning in its scope and diversity however they do it.

Dai Jeffries

Artists’ website: https://filkinsmusic.com/

‘Craig Y Ddinas/The Miller’s Pond’ – official video: