Watch 9Bach performing ‘Ifan‘ live on the S4C programme Stiwdio Gefn, the song is from their their new album ‘Anian’, one of our Featured Albums of the Month (read the album review here) which is out now on Real World Records.
Lisa from 9Bach gives some insight into the song ‘Ifan’:
Ivan is a boy, he leaves his flat as his step dad shouts and his mum cries and walks out in to the snow carrying nothing but a ripped magazine picture of Svetlana.
After weeks of living on the street along with other children that were not so nice, he slowly builds a relationship with the wild dogs.
He can reach into the bins, and share the rubbish food, and he gets there protection in return. Ivan is happy, Ivan trust the dogs because they don’t lie like humans do.
Ivan is ok, he feels love… loved… by them. He is in a routine and he feels warmth amidst the freezing cold nights.
In the end the authorities capture him, after a few failed attempts because the dogs attacked the officers each time they tried, and place him in an orphanage. He is the saddest he has ever been, he didn’t want rescuing.
This song is the moment when Ivan and the dogs are separated, the She dog, the head of the pack, the beautiful one… and him are ripped apart, never to see each other again.
This song is from the perspective of the third person who is watching this painful separation.
It explores the human relationship with other creatures and nature and how far we are now removed from that.
A feral child you might call him… but he was feeling love for the first time I heard a play called Ivan and The Dogs by Hattie Naylor and that’s what inspired the song…
Anian is released on 29 April 2016 via Real World Records
Order via: Real World | Amazon | iTunes
Live Dates
FRI 29 APR – The Brook Southampton
SAT 30 APR – Bristol Folk FestIval
SUN 01 MAY – Theatr Mwldan, Abertefi – Cardigan
WED 04 MAY – Hare & Hounds Kings Heath, Birmingham
THU 05 MAY – Deaf Institute, Manchester
FRI 06 MAY – La Belle Angele, Edinburgh
SAT 07 MAY – Sage, Gateshead
WED 11 MAY – Bodega, Nottingham
THU 12 MAY – Arlington Arts Centre, Newbury
FRI 13 MAY – The Stables, Milton Keynes
SAT 14 MAY – The Hothouse, Morecambe
SUN 15 MAY – Komedia Brighton
THU 19 MAY – Bush Hall, London
FRI 20 MAY – John Peel Centre, Stowmarket
SAT 21 MAY – The Globe Cardiff, Caerdydd – Cardiff
WED 25 MAY – Cambridge Junction, Cambridge
THU 26 MAY – The Octagon, Keighley
FRI 27 MAY – Galeri Caernarfon
Fri 03 JUN – David Hall, South Petherton