Cynefin (pr.‘kuh-neh-vin’), a palimpsest of a Welsh word meaning animals’ trails in hillsides and the sense of familiarity and belonging, is also the stage name of Welsh folk singer, researcher, grain grower and cultural historian Owen Shiers. His last album, Dilyn Afon (Following A River), was released in 2020 and left a deep impression on our reviewer Glenn Kimpton, who described it as a journey piece of pure and utterly beautiful music and singing. He implored our readers to buy the album, which was also beautifully presented.
I’m pleased to say that Cynefin returns early next year (30th January 2025) with his new album Shimli, which continues in the vein of rooting his music firmly in the customs and cultural vernacular of Ceredigion; the album takes its title from the now obsolete West Walian practice of all-night musical and poetic vigils which used to take place in mills and workshops. Drawing inspiration from folk song, the beirdd gwlad (folk poet) tradition – as well as living oral history and story, the album explores the intersection between music, poetry, food and the natural world. A personal dispatch from the struggle to preserve a language, culture and way of life, the album is a musical petition – a stake in the ground for the diverse and the disappearing in our age of homogenisation and mass amnesia.
Accompanying this announcement is Cynefin’s lead single, ‘Helmi‘, which is also our Song of the Day. Helmi presents the words of an obscure cân (a poem or song) by farmer Evan Jones. In it, Evans describes the family farmhouse surrounded by a stoic army of helmi (corn stacks) in golden regalia, protecting the inhabitants from hunger and the scourge of winter. As romantic as the depiction may seem, the piece is a poignant and lyrical account of the not-so-distant past. Not only have helmi disappeared from the Welsh landscape – significantly, so too have the native crops that once fed a nation. For a country now almost completely reliant on imported food, there is perhaps a timely message in his words.
Like his previous album, the track is meticulously crafted, accentuated by Owen’s warm vocals and some beautiful atmospheric string arrangements. The percussion heightens that sense of time marching on, crushing all in its path in the name of progress, the real cost of which feels like a deep emotional regression. Reading about Owen’s new album reminded me of George Ewart Evans. Born in the mining village of Abercynon, he immersed himself in oral culture, and his writings taught us about the customs and culture of the rural communities of East Anglia in the first half of the twentieth century. Reading about them, you become increasingly aware of how much we’ve lost and how detached from the land we’ve become as a society; we’re all the poorer for it, and the cracks are beginning to show, even our scarce woodlands and rivers which have served past generations are under threat; yet blindly we trudge on, oblivious of the damage we are doing.
Stream Helmi: https://owenshiers.lnk.to/Helmi
Bandcamp: https://cynefinwales.bandcamp.com/track/helmi
Website: https://cynefinmusic.wales/