Album of the Week – 01/07/22

Guided By Voices are always busy and this is actually their second release of the year and it’s only July! Their new album is called Tremblers And Goggles By Rank. There are also new releases from Greg Puciato (of Dillinger Escape Plan and it’s called Mirrorcell), along with Carlos Truly (of Ava Luna which is called Not Mine).

This week, we’ve gone for the new album by Gwenno called Tresor. If the lyrics sound a little hard to decipher, it’s because they’re almost all in Cornish except for one in Welsh! It’s a pleasant, swirling affair reminiscent of Stereolab and that deserves your attention! Check it out below…

Album of the Week – Tresor by Gwenno

Tresor (Treasure) is Gwenno Saunders’ third full length solo album and the second almost entirely in Cornish (Kernewek). Written in St. Ives, Cornwall, just prior to the Covid lockdowns of 2020 and completed in Cardiff during the pandemic along with her producer and musical collaborator, Rhys Edwards, Tresor reveals an introspective focus on home and self, a prescient work echoing the isolation and retreat that has been a central, global shared experience over the past two years. The wider project also includes a companion film, written and directed by Gwenno in collaboration with Anglesey based filmmaker and photographer Clare Marie Bailey.

Tresor diverges from the stark themes of technological alienation in Y Dydd Olaf (The Final Day) and the meditations on the idea of the homeland on the slyly infectious Le Kov (The Place of Memory). Accessible and international in outlook, peppered with moments of offbeat humor, Le Kov presented Cornish to the world. It highlighted the struggle of Kernewek and the concerns of Cornish cultural visibility as the perceptions of a timeless and haunted landscape often clash with the reality of intense poverty and an economy devastated by the demands of tourism. The impact of Le Kov was resounding, providing for the Cornish language an unprecedented international platform, that saw Gwenno touring and headlining in Europe and Australia, and supporting acts such as Suede and the Manic Street Preachers. Her performance of ‘Tir ha Mor’ on Later with Jools Holland was a triumph, and the album prompted wider conversations on the state of the Cornish language with Michael Portillo, Jon Snow, and Nina Nannar. After Le Kov, interest in learning Cornish hit an all-time high, and the cultural role of the language was firmly in the spotlight.

Albums of Note:

— GoGo Penguin – Between Two Waves EP

— Greg Puciato (of Dillinger Escape Plan) – Mirrorcell

— Guided By Voices – Tremblers And Goggles By Rank

— Carlos Truly (of Ava Luna) – Not Mine

Albums Released – July 1st:

— Alex Crispin – Alex Crispin

— Carlos Truly (of Ava Luna) – Not Mine

— Charlie Gabriel (of Preservation Hall Jazz Band) – 89 (Physical Release)

— Chief State – Waiting For Your Colours

— The Dear Hunter – Antimai

— Fime – Sweeter Memory

— Fresh – Raise Hell

— Ghost Woman – Ghost Woman

— GoGo Penguin – Between Two Waves EP

— Greg Puciato (of Dillinger Escape Plan) – Mirrorcell

— Guided By Voices – Tremblers And Goggles By Rank

— Gwenno – Tresor

— Horizon Ignited – Toward The Dying Land

— Imagine Dragons – Mercury — ACTS 1 & 2

— Jure Grando – Archaic Moon Mysticism

— Laura Evans – State Of Mind

— Lotic – Sparkling Water EP

— Medicine Singers – Medicine Singers

— Mice Parade – lapapọ

— Momma – Household Name

— Moor Mother – Jazz Codes

— Municipal Waste – Electrified Brain

— Naima Bock – Giant Palm

— Naomi Alligator – Double Knot

— Neighbor Lady – For The Birds

— Nonconnah – Don’t Go Down To Lonesome Holler

— Paolo Nutini – Last Night In The Bittersweet

— Randy Holden – Population III

— Robin Carolan and Sebastian Gainsborough – The Northman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Physical Release)

— Roxy Music – Flesh + Blood (Reissue)

— Tedeschi Trucks Band – I Am The Moon: II. Ascension

— Terry Jennings – Piece for Cello and Saxophone

— Trembling Void – Demo I

— Various Artists – Minions: The Rise of Gru (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

— Various Artists – Stranger Things: Soundtrack from the Netflix Series, Season 4, Volume 2 (Digital Release)