New Sound Wales have been exactly what it says on the tin. The discord of new and exciting music has mingled for a few days with the WOW festival, celebrating women of Wales and beyond.
The evening began with a bit of a hiccup. The first set did not start until half an hour after the start time in the brochure. The time was spent getting to know some fellow music lovers, as the first musician finally came on. Teddy Hunter and her brief opener was a translucent and mellow start, just what the doctor ordered. This set of luscious dream pop stay with me as a fine fusion of Nord keyboard synths (I’ve got to get one of those) and her loving lyrics could not have made for a better set. Yes, the odd song may have not to been to everyone’s taste. Though most would agree she is a musician to watch out for.
Next was Eädyth, a blazing singer with a great set of dance tracks and some real talk on aspects of life. Nice to see some diversity here, as here larger than life presence seeped into her emotive tracks making this very British audience almost dance. Following on was HANA2K, a drastically different experience. She seemed to have her own little fanbase here (she was front cover of Chapter’s November brochure), dancing passionately at the front. Here there is a heavy use of tacky pop with little message.
Apart from a ballad about a break up (the best part of the set). It was brash and remained me a little of Lilly Allen and the internet sensation that is Poppy, but with less charm nor great musical content. Maybe it because I’m not the demographic or just that the music does not stick out in any way from the rest of the massive pop scene today.
The big name of Esther was the front running name, though last to perform. It was getting after ten and people had trains to catch, but it was a lovely set of jazz, though. Bit bland in places. I love her little balletic poses whilst the musicians did instrumentals, as she took break from singing if only for a little while. There was style here and an eloquent grandeur to it all but it just felt very average, even with a voice as grandiose as Esther’s.