The electronic act Chwalaw have released their second single ‘Dim Arwyr’ (No Heroes) on Udishido Records on Friday March 3rd. A new video for the single funded by the Pyst/Lŵp fund was released on their YouTube channel to coincide with the launch.
Traditional folk elements by harpist Cerys Hafana and Berlin violinist Paul Geigerzähler, combine with the experimental and unique sound of Chwalaw to create the song ‘Dim Arwyr’. The track also contains a powerful rap from Izzy Rabey which flows through the verses with attitude and contrasts perfectly with Efa Supertramp’s punky voice on the chorus.
The song was created during a residency in Germany, which was funded by Wales Arts International in 2022. The two main members of the band, punk singer Efa Supertramp and producer Nick Ronin went to collaborate with musicians from the Sorbian area who also have a minority language and culture.
Efa explained how the song came into being, “During the residency with the Sorbian artists we discussed how so many of our traditions (Welsh and Sorbian) are patriarchal and so we wanted to create a different vision for the future for our languages and cultures – feminist and queer futures. Paul Geigerzähler put down the violin melody (from a traditional Sorbian song) and then Nick looped it and built the track from there. The words of the original folk song ‘Budzer’ were so sexist, so that was the inspiration really – I just thought about all the strong people who have existed in the past and how their stories have been forgotten and lost. So, then we sent the song to Izzy to see if she wanted to rap on it…”
Izzy explained the idea behind her rap in the song, “The Mabinogion always portray women as individuals who need to be saved, “pure”, victims of trauma and putting off their potential husbands and potential husbands. For me, the portrayal here as women as victims plays into how music and the Welsh arts portray women. For this song, I wanted to talk about the power to be found in celebrating your complexity, of being a witch rather than a princess and how deeply legends can play into how we see femme people today. ”
Efa Supertramp, Izzy Rabey and Cerys Hafana appear in the video in wedding attire in a forest. The three musicians wander through the forest in a sort of queer feminist fantasy that ends with smoke and mud. Izzy was chosen to direct the video, with Gabi Norland filming and directing the photography. Izzy explained where her inspiration came from “Within the context of the video I drew inspiration from Courtney Love’s videos in her band Hole in the 90s and the work of the 70s Punk band The Slits – the joy and power that is unlocked by not sticking to Welsh legendary female stereotypes. Embrace the ugly on power that is within us all!”
‘Dim Arwyr’ is available for download and streaming from Friday 3rd March 2023. Watch the video on PYST’s YouTube channel.
Music single release on Recordiau Udishido: https://orcd.co/dimarwyr
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