Video: Breichiau Hir - New Single 'Paid Trio' Out Now
Cardiff-based Welsh language alternative rock six-piece, Breichiau Hir, are pleased to reveal their new single âPaid Trioâ (Donât Try) which is out now on all good digital service providers, alongside an official music video which premiered with S4Câs new Welsh music and contemporary culture show LĹľp.
Another cut of bruising modern rock from the sextet providing centre stage for the Welsh language, the song is about reinventionârealising a change in yourself, and either embracing it, or actively tearing it all down to start again.
The track is the latest to be taken from their forthcoming second album Y Dwylo Uwchben (The Hands Above), set for release on 11th April 2025 via Halen Records, and follows on from lead single âCuddio Tu Ăl Y Llenâ released earlier this year.
A special album launch show is planned for 17th April 2025 at legendary local venue Clwb Ifor Bach in the bandâs hometown of Cardiff, and the group are also delighted to announce they will support fellow Welsh crew Goldie Lookin Chain on their Autumn 2025 UK tour dates (see below for listings).
Commenting on the track, front man Steffan Dafydd says:Â âI struggled to write lyrics for the album; itâs something that usually just flows out of me. While the rest of the band were in the studio recording their parts, I was trying to push as much meaning onto the disjointed scraps of writing I had to get something to make sense.â
âI stumbled on an article about Charles Bukowskiâs writing process and advice for artists. Simply put, his advice was âDonât Tryâ. Which is the opposite of what Iâd been doingââYou donât try. Thatâs very important: not to try, either for Cadillacs, creation or immortality. You wait, and if nothing happens, you wait some more.ââ
âHe also has âDonât Tryâ written on his gravestone, along with an image of a boxer, which is where the visuals for the music video came from. As soon as I stopped trying, the rest flowed out of me.â
Bukowksi is also referenced elsewhere by the band on the forthcoming new albumâs penultimate track, âTyllau Llygadâ (Eyeholes), in a double entendre: âDwiâ moyn bod fel Charles Bukowski, darn o waith oedd o flaen ei hoes hiâ, meaning âI want to be like Charles Bukowski, a piece of work that was ahead of its time.â
The first half is a lyric lifted word for word from a song by Welsh songwriter Rheinallt H Rowlands, released in 1996. âThe album is called Charles Bukowski, and itâs one of my favourite records,â enthuses Dafydd. âIâm basically saying that I want to create something as good as Rheinallt H Rowlandsâ timeless album.â
Combining the visceral and the vulnerable, Breichiau Hir have distinguished themselves within Cardiffâs vibrant music scene with their distinctive take on Welsh-language rock music. Their intense live shows invite catharsis through introspection and unbridled energy. Their ability to switch from explosive walls of sound to gossamer ostinato allow the band to resonate from the most intimate of venues to the festival stage.Â
2025 will see the release of a sophomore album that this time seeks to look to the future by contemplating predestination and individual agencyâa series of orchestrations that question the script that has been written for you. Y Dwylo Uwchben promises to build upon Breichiau Hirâs reputation for authentic and personal songwriting, whilst delivering gritty hooks and expansive soundscapes.
The new album will be the first batch of new material from the sextet in 4 years, since the release of their Welsh Music Prize-nominated 2021 debut album Hir Oes Iâr Cof, which delivered the resonant lyrics of a band reflecting on adulthood and its inherent antithesis to idealism. As if being forced forward by the currents of the river Taf, the albumâs narrative reflects on the escapist power of nostalgia and the weight of expectation.
Launching their debut EP Maeâr Angerdd Yma Yn Troi In Gas in 2015, the band went on to release a string of standalone singles including âMewn Darnau / Halenâ (2018), âPortread O Ddyn Yn Bwyta Ei Hunâ (2018), âPenblwydd Hapus Iawnâ (2019), âYn Dawel Bach / Saethu Triâ (2019), âPreseb O Iasâ (2020), and their cover of Bryn FĂ´n classic âY Bardd O Montrealâ (2020).
This slow-drip of material bore fruit for the boys from Wales, with a wave of support both at home and beyond from Huw Stephens at BBC 6music, Daniel P Carter and Alyx Holcombe at BBC R1, KEXP, Adam Walton at BBC Radio Wales, NME, Rock Sound Magazine, Bandcamp Daily, BUZZ Magazine, God Is In The TV Zine, Planet Mosh, Punktastic, For The Rabbits, Circuit Sweet and more.
On the live side, theyâve kept busy building notoriety on the Welsh festival circuit with appearances at Green Man, SĹľnďťż, FOCUS Wales, HUB Festival, The Swansea Fringe, supported The Joy Formidable, Modern Color, We Were Promised Jetpacks, and Single Mothers, and their track âYn Dawel Bachâ was even used by FA Wales in their Euro 2020 hype videos.
New album Y Dwylo Uwchben Released 11th April 2025 via Halen Records
16.03.25 - Carmarthen - CWRW
10.04.25 - Bristol - The Old England
17.04.25 - Cardiff - Clwb Ifor Bach (album launch show)
05.09.25 - Manchester - Academy 2 *
06.09.25 - Kendal - Brewery Arts (Malt Room) *
10.10.25 - Nottingham - Metronome *
11.10.25 - Kidderminster - 45 Live *
18.10.25 - Frome - Cheese & Grain *
24.10.25 - London - Electric Ballroom *
25.10.25 - Ipswich - Corn Exchange *
07.11.25 - Reading - Sub89 *
08.11.25 - Southampton - Engine Rooms *