Welsh-born but Oxford based singer-songwriter D. Gwalia doesn't belong to any particular category or scene, preferring to develop the sounds that inhabit his own head rather than those of others. His album 'In Puget Sound' has been available digitally for a couple of years but is due for a vinyl release this summer. That format seems particularly fitting for these sounds as they don't really belong in the digital world, in fact it's difficult to establish where exactly they do belong. This is experimental and dark chamber-folk that could be describe as mournful, but that might possibly be an understatement.
These songs are stark and soulful dirges that flit between medieval folk atmospherics and Gothic, world-weary emotional explorations. Rest assured that while this album may not be a bunch of party anthems, it can still resound in the same way that the pop-noir of Tindersticks or Nick Cave can. Sure it's heavy going but it's also hugely emotive and stirring, and above all it feels in no way contrived. It feels real, and it's here where 'In Puget Sound' comes into its own. Lord knows not everyone will see the beauty in these songs, but those that do could well find themselves fixated with Dylan Gwalia's desolate yet evocative world.
D. Gwalia's website
Stream or buy the album
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