#le kov

If and when the Cornish rise up, Gwenno will no doubt be reflected upon as a figure of consequence. The Cardiff singer and songwriter has brought the Cornish language – understood in any capacity by only a few thousand – to the relative masses, leading the vanguard by cleverly disguising it within luscious, romantic, psychedelia-daubed pop. For those tempted by Gwenno’s catalogue, I’d advise focusing more on the Cornish stuff; first three albums Y Dydd Olaf, Le Kov and Tresor are all either wholly or partly Cornish (the debut has a dash of Welsh), and they’re all of far higher quality than her most recent attempt Utopia, which ventures into English and plods rather a bit.

Electropop star Gwenno writes a feature in Cornish for The Big Issue

There’s a lot to be said for different languages, if only we knew how to say it…. unlike Welsh musician Gwenno, who has written an article in Cornish for The Big Issue. Her latest album is in Cornish and she speaks Welsh too (plus the brogue that is English). Here’s the story…

(more…)