''Y Dydd Olaf'' (meaning "the last day") is the first solo album by

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

singer-songwriter

Gwenno Gwenno Mererid Saunders (born 23 May 1981) is a Welsh musician, known by the stage name Gwenno. She has released three critically-acclaimed albums as a solo artist: Welsh Music Prize winner'' Y Dydd Olaf'' (2014); ''Le Kov'' (2018), her first a ...

. It was her fifth solo release after four previous EPs.

Background

The album was initially released on a small scale by the independent Peski Records label in October 2014 and sold out completely. It was re-released worldwide in 2015 by Heavenly Recordings. The album was an attempt by Gwenno to combine her political views with sounds she loves and was inspired in part by a dystopian science fiction book of the same name by

Owain Owain Owain Owain (11 December 1929 – 19 December 1993) was a Welsh novelist, short-story writer and poet. He also founded ''Tafod y Ddraig'' (The Dragon's Tongue), which became the Welsh Language Society's main voice from its birth in the 1960s ...

which was released in 1976. Since the album was released, permission for an English translation of Owain's book was granted, 40 years after it was first published in Welsh. The album is sung predominantly in Welsh with the final track, Amser, being a musical rendition of a Cornish poem by her father, Tim Saunders. Gwenno has said she used the book's title as it had inspired her to return to singing in her first language. The album began as a collection of recordings of everyday sounds Gwenno had collected over a number of years, including field recordings in

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of w ...

. She sampled these sounds to create rhythm tracks and built the songs up from there, saying she "really wanted to get to the bottom of the idea of creating a soundscape before coming up with any sort of song" and has said she aims to use "less music to make more".

Reception

The album received critical acclaim and won the

Welsh Music Prize The Welsh Music Prize is an annual music prize awarded for the best album from Wales, as voted for by members of the music industry. It was founded by music promoter John Rostron and radio presenter Huw Stephens in 2011. It was originally schedul ...

and the Welsh-language album of the Year in 2015. It was also chosen by readers of Y Selar, a Welsh music magazine, as the 4th best album of 2014, and by

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

as one of the best Indie Records of 2015. London's

Loud and Quiet ''Loud and Quiet'' is a British bi-monthly music magazine that focuses on new music from underground indie, alternative, electronic and hip hop artists. History and profile The magazine was founded in January 2005 by Stuart Stubbs as a home-print ...

called it the second best album of 2015.

Track listing

Source:
All tracks written by

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dydd Olaf (album), Y 2015 albums Heavenly Recordings albums Welsh-language albums Gwenno albums