A vibrant showcase celebrating the best of contemporary Welsh-language music, featuring Malan, Blodau Papur and Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18.
BOOK TICKETS
5:00pm Malan
Fresh off the back of being chosen as one of Spotify’s Fresh Finds of the Month earlier this year, Malan is continuing to redefine the jazz-pop landscape with her playful, catchy lyrics and laidback, jazzy charm. Since her debut single earned a spot on Spotify’s New Music Friday UK and airplay on BBC Radio 1 and BBC 6 Music, she has continued to make waves in the UK music scene.
Her single Dau Funud marked a milestone as her first release in Welsh. Blending smooth jazz influences with contemporary pop sensibilities, the bossa nova-inspired track was featured on Spotify’s Jazz UK and Fresh Finds UK & Ireland playlists. Most recently, she unveiled her highly anticipated second EP ‘Right Here’ — which was also playlisted by Spotify and has already connected with her growing fanbase.
Malan’s intricate melodies and heartfelt storytelling have drawn comparisons to artists like Eloise, Mathilda Homer, and Olivia Dean, with one blogger noting, “Malan’s sound always stands out thanks to its fresh and elegant lyrics.”
Since making her live debut at the BBC Introducing showcase as part of the BBC Radio 6 Festival in 2022, Malan has played sold-out shows in North Wales and London, performed at festivals like Sŵn and Green Man, and steadily built a loyal following – along with more live dates on the horizon, Malan is poised to further cement her place as one of the most exciting voices in modern jazz-pop.
5:45pm Blodau Papur
6:30pm Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18
Possibly the world’s only musical group to fuse Latin music of all kinds with the Welsh language, Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18 are an international collective formed by songwriter, singer, multi-instrumentalist and producer Carwyn Ellis after his first visit to South America in 2018 as a touring member of Pretenders. Indeed – the idea to fuse Welsh language songs with latin music came from Chrissie Hynde herself!
Over the course of 6 albums (3 of them in the last 18 months!), this vibrant project has brought together a brilliant collection of personnel, as talented as they arevaried – artists who’ve worked with Rio 18 include Young Gun Silver Fox (UK/USA), Kassin, Nina Miranda, Moreno Veloso, Domenico Lancellotti, Silvia Machete (all from Brazil), Luzmira Zerpa (Venezuela), Little Barrie (UK) and DJ Coco Maria (Mexico).
Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18 make tropical-infused songs of hope, history and harmony, recorded in a spirit of international brother and sisterhood, showing just what we can achieve if we dream, work and play… together.
