Peter contributes a spoken word piece to the new album from Real World Records artists 9Bach.
Anian is 9Bach’s third album: a soulful, brooding record whose songs take a critical look at the world in which we live. Whilst the band’s previous album Tincian – BBC Radio 2 Folk Award 2015 Winner of Best Album – commemorated stories from the past, Anian explores more contemporary themes.
As singer, composer and pianist Lisa Jên explains, the album comes from a desperate, anarchic place. “It marks where I’m at, whether it’s my age, being a mother, or simply being much more exposed to social media where I’m faced with pictures and videos, images and words which I find difficult to cope with right now.”
Anian is a Welsh word meaning nature, the natural order, natural morality, the natural world, creation. What you are made of, your soul and bones, and how you connect with other people.
The double CD package includes companion piece Yn dy lais / In your voice, where writers, actors, poets and singers give their own interpretations of the songs as a way to convey the meaning to a non-Welsh speaking audience. This is where Peter’s contribution sits as the voice of the track Deryn: ‘It’s Me’ which has been written by Tim Price.
Other contributors to Yn Dy Lais: In Your Voice include Maxine Peake and Rhys Ifans.
Of the Yn Dy Lais: In Your Voice disc 9Bach say:
As a Welsh language band we’ve always tried to be inclusive of a non-Welsh speaking audience. We don’t see that language in music should be a barrier at all, but it helps if you can have a picture in your mind whilst listening. We came up with this idea to tell the story without giving a literal translation of the song, which would be challenging as many Welsh words don’t naturally translate. That is the beauty of language.
Read more about Anian and Yn Dy Lais: In Your Voice