Mared wins this year’s Albwm Cymraeg y Flwyddyn (Welsh Language Album Awards) for her album from last year, ‘Y Drefn’, on the I KA CHING Records label.
The news was announced on BBC Radio Cymru tonight by Siân Eleri and Ifan Davies, as part of the Eisteddfod AmGen programme.
‘Y Drefn’ is Mared’s debut solo album, and a fusion of many genres, with elements of jazz, folk and pop mixing to create a beautiful record that puts the singer’s unique voice front and centre.
It’s a touching and emotional album that grabs the listener from Mared’s first vocal line in ‘Y Reddf’ all the way to the epic conclusion of ‘Dal ar y Teimlad’. Like so many albums recorded at Stiwdio Sain, Llandwrog, this album demands a place in any collection, with Mared’s voice starring throughout.
Mared said, “My heart is full! Thank you so much for making my year a thousand times better! This album means the world to me and getting this response has been so special. Thanks for all the support I’ve had, and especially to I KA CHING, Branwen, Osian and Ifan for being the best team in the world!”
Speaking on behalf of I KA CHING Records, Branwen Haf Williams, added, “Mared Williams is the most genuinely talented, fantastically productive and industrious musician I’ve come across. She deserves all the attention and success, and this important prize is worthy recognition of her work and of her standing as one of the real stars of the Welsh language music scene.”
The ten shortlisted albums were:
- Carw – ‘Maske’
- Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18 – ‘Mas’
- Cwtsh – ‘Gyda’n Gilydd’
- Datblygu – ‘Cwm Gwagle’
- Elfed Saunders Jones – ‘Gadewaist’
- Jac Da Trippa – ‘Kim Hong Chon’
- Mared – ‘Y Drefn’
- Mr – ‘Feiral’
- Mr Phormula – ‘Tiwns’
- Tomos Williams – ‘Cwmwl Tystion’
Mared receives a special award designed and created by the Eisteddfod’s craftsperson, Tony Thomas. Like much of Tony’s work, including the large letters spelling the word ‘Eisteddfod’, the Albwm Cymraeg y Flwyddyn trophy has been created from an old Eisteddfod relic. This time, Tony has used a cog from an old JCB which was last used at the Bro Madog Eistedfod in 1987, to represent the record as part of this unique prize.
Watch Mared perform on Cyngerdd yr Eisteddfod Gudd on Sunday at 20:00 on S4C, and catch her on Gig y Pafiliwn, available on the Eisteddfod website, www.eisteddfod.wales and on YouTube. You can hear Mared talking to Dylan Jenkins on his new music podcast for Lŵp and S4C, Hyfryd Iawn, on Spotify from 9 August.