FEMME BUG
From Swansea, Femmebug is stepping into the spotlight with her bedroom recorded songs. Her 2019 single, the beautiful, plaintive, bittersweet piano pop of ‘Unlearn‘ with its delicate introspective motif about trying to shrug off trauma, caught the attention of Adam Walton, who played it multiple times on his show for BBC Radio Wales. In February 2021 she released physical copies of her debut EP ‘Comfortable Place’ with SWND Records, the CDs sold out on her Bandcamp page.
Femmebug takes lots of inspiration from her teenage years and her surroundings, crammed with ideas, attitude and bursting with a tune, her most recent single ‘Lost My Mind‘ is an addictive lovelorn blockbuster that shifts from anxious verses into a giant chorus ripe with singalong lines and big hooks. Bursting with personality and musicality and sketches of young life on the margins, Femmebug is an unmissable talent! (Bill Cummings)
DACTYL TERRA
We don’t have much information for fresh as a daisy exciting Cardiff four-piece Dactyl Terra but with a tip of the hat from Gruff from Libertino, we investigated their fledgling sounds. They craft a psych stained groovy sound that will light a fire and get your feet moving! Their debut single ‘Moonbeam’ is a ’60s fuzz trailed psychy jam, riven with sinister chant alongs and nifty little riffs. We look forward to hearing more from Dactyl Terra! (BC)
TOM EMLYN
It appears Tom Emlyn, guitarist, singer and songwriter of boisterous indie rock n rollers Bandicoot has been hiding his light under a bushel somewhat. Working on a series of thoughtful clever songs of impressive emotional depth, of course including ‘Serenade’ to be found on the REPEA*T Records release ‘You Flexi Thing Vol 8: X-Ray Flex’. There is more to come this year from Emlyn, and sure to intrigue further. (Cath Holland)
TEDDY HUNTER
Cardiff’s Teddy Hunter crafts wonderfully textures and ambient songs, pierced with an unmistakable vocal. She was the Green Man Rising Winner 2021. Her debut single release, the evocative and enveloping ‘Games‘ was released on Bubblewrap Collective. Teddy features on the track The Human Touch by Late Night Final, a debut release on Pias Records. Teddy is currently preparing to record her debut album with members of Boy Azooga, Novo Amor, and Super Furry Animals. (BC)
HONEY B MCKENNA
Honey B Mckenna is a fast emerging songwriter and producer currently based in her hometown of Abergavenny.
After the release of her debut EP ‘1:11‘ last February, McKenna
ended 2021 with the release of this self-written and produced track ‘Candy‘ a fantastically playful hyper pop track that twists and pulls themes about finding and navigating new romantic relationships: crammed with brilliant vocal kiss-offs, floor-filling beats and buoyant synth runs, that skirt the line between latter Kylie and Charli xcx. It’s a bop! We cant wait to hear what dancefloor queen Honey B Mckenna has in store for 2022! (BC)
RAZKID
Razkid is an independent MC/Artist from Cardiff. He aims to make music “that’s versatile and refreshing matched with lyrics filled with substance that are drawn from personal experiences.”
‘Dopamine’ is a downtempo intimate sketch forged in collaboration with Luke RV. His most recent single ‘Problem Child‘ is a searing document to growing up, mental anguish making mistakes and starting again. His fantastic flow spits over simmering menacing backdrops and abrasive beats, reminiscent of the likes of Dizzee Rascal. He strives for an unconventional sound in his songs and all his music is produced and written in-house with Minas in their home studio. (BC)
ARTSHAWTY
Cardiff-based Artshawty taps into her Pakistani heritage and modern influences and alongside producer Volcano Szn, she explores dreamy and bedroom pop with lo-fi r&b grooves. Her 2020 paired downtempo beats with intimate vocal sway that’s infectious and expansive, evocative keyboards create an intoxicating atmosphere. Her single ‘sly’ from last year has a jazzy languidness that takes down a lover a peg or two a lovelorn earworm. (BC)
EVE GOODMAN
Bilingual North Wales-based Eve Goodman has calming and quietly building a reputation for meticulously crafted songs and a gorgeous voice that houses her good soul vibes, over the last few years. Her 2020 single ‘Pellter’ (Welsh for ‘distance’), transfixed, a haunting meditation upon grief and feeling hopeless in your attempts to get through to someone. Delicate acoustic arpeggios are sown with Goodman’s elegant and spellbinding vocal as she wraps around each Welsh couplet and releases a soaring moment that stops time.
While last years follow up EP ‘Wave Upon Wave’ was brimful of masterful songwriting, the wonderful title track is an exploration of the healing power of the sea. Underpinned by gently lapping instrumentals, Goodman’s lilting, meditative melody is invested with her warmly empathetic and exquisite tone.
While the gently plucked lapping melodies and startling vocal clarity of ‘Siren Song’ yearn for escape with a calming evocative swim into the sea. With a wealth of talent and an ability to tap into a rich seem of emotion and compassion, Goodman is a very talented emerging artist. (BC)
RONA MAC
Rona Mac hails from rural West Wales. Between Gardening jobs she records raw, wonderful songs in her caravan, that deceptively draw, then envelop you in the way early Daughter, Jeff Buckley or Laura Marling could; her bruised vocal is a thing of striking clarity invested with heart, and speaks of trauma, identity and growth.
Her debut album 2020’s self-released ‘Shelia‘ was outstanding while ‘Weapon’, her haunting single released on Rose Parade recordings last year, showed her songwriting was swiftly developing, simmering with the reflection of a tempestuous relationship that eventually came to an end. Rona carefully carves a self meditative narrative around love, loss and a craving for simplicity with an indelible wounded vocal: “you really fucked me up this time” she sings brokenly, framed in clipped guitars, an insistent beat and elegantly drawn backdrops.
Rona Mac’s new single ‘Smoke’ is a cyclical song Mac’s vocal swirls through a subtle backdrop. Raw and tender she finds the “things that have helped her to function.” This track is embedded in her rural surroundings, with vocals recorded in a Cathedral bell tower amongst the chatter of crows.
Mac tells us it was written during the first lockdown. “I’d manically cleared out and cleaned my caravan, and then sat down thinking ‘what the hell do I do now?’. The song ruminates over the many things that make me want to smoke – bad days, wistful moments, nights with my beautiful friends, angst and change.” (BC)