Tag: The Mavron Quartet

The previous album by Gareth Bonello as The Gentle Good, Galargan, was a pared back acoustic affair using old songs from The National Library of Wales. Elan continues with an historical theme but in a very different musical style. This is a full band effort, including ‘Desert Of Wales’ recorded by Rajasthani band SAZ in Mumbai. Gareth’s main band is Toby Hay, Andy Fung, Frank Naughton, Laura J Martin, Fiona Bassett and Ivan Moult, augmented by The Mavron Quartet. The sound is described as psychedelic, not a word I like, but it is complex and experimental.

Some history first. The Elan Valley was dammed and flooded to provide drinking water for Birmingham with the first stage being opened in 1902. This is a familiar story to anyone who, like me, was brought up in the Peak District and, for another link, both Cwm Elan and Ladybower were used as training grounds by the Dambusters – Cwm Elan came off worst.

Unusually, Gareth sings in both Welsh and English and the opening track ‘Ten Thousand Acres’, although only four lines long, is in English. Essentially, though, it is an instrumental introduction to the album. ‘Crugyn Ci’ is a description of the high ground around Cwm Elan but there is a sting in the tail: “some see a desert and worthless acres” heralds Birmingham’s land grab. ‘Pan O’wn y Gwanwyn (Dychweliad Bychan)’, carried on flute, strings and keys, describes the writer thinking back to his boyhood and lamenting the loss of the valley. ‘Desert Of Wales’ picks up on the line in ‘Crugyn Ci’. There are words in English but the majority is sung (I presume) in Hindi.

‘To Be In Summer’ is a song of longing and Gareth sings of leaving behind his woe and despair “in the city set in concrete”. If he were ever to have a hit single this would be it. ‘Cofiwch Gwm Elan’ is about remembering the valley as it was but, of course, there is no-one left to remember its 18^th century beauty. The piano-led instrumental, ‘Drygarn’ leads into the longest track, ‘Brwcsod’, which would appear to be about a family of thieves and murderers who would prey on travellers to the Rood Day Fair in Ffair-rhos. There are only two verses and so the song becomes a vehicle for the band to stretch out – the description psychedelic might just fit ‘Brwcsod’.

‘Tachwedd’ (November) is another song in praise of the landscape while ‘Stunning Location’, another song in English, imagines Cwm Elan unflooded but again there is a sting as Gareth chastises the people who don’t care about the valley as long as they get what they want. Two more instrumentals, ‘Fleet’ and ‘Elan’ bracket the last song, ‘Dark Skies’. You really have to hear this final section for yourself.

It took me a couple of plays to settle into Elan – I am very fond of Galargan – but The Gentle Good has really stretched himself musically and in his song-writing to produce a quite remarkable record.

Dai Jeffries

Artist’s website: www.thegentlegood.com

‘Tachwedd’ – official video: