Music / Review
Review: Calan, Bristol Folk House – ‘Together they make supercharged folk music’
Have you read Richard King’s latest book? It’s called Brittle With Relics and brilliantly tells the story of modern Wales using oral history and storytelling to explore a rich and vital culture. Welsh Folk superheroes, Calan, do something similar. Rooted in tradition, the band use instruments that their Mam-gu would know but feel they make it feel modern. They play pop music from a parallel universe and know the value of their home. Early on they talk of the responsibility of being Welsh and remind us that “they speak in the language of heaven itself”.
When the utterly extraordinary Bethan Rhiannon sings she commands the attention of every single person in the room. At turns achingly ghostly such as on their track, The Rejected Maiden, and full on Stevie Nicks pop, on As The Night Closes In, she is versatility personified. Throw in some step dancing, accordion playing and a starring role in a recent BBC Wales sitcom and she’s a proper star.
That’s not to say that the rest of this brilliant four piece (they’re normally five but one of them is off having a baby) can be easily overlooked. Patrick Rimes is a multi award winning fiddle player but adds some fine whistle playing a distinctly heavy metal feel to his pipes. Shelley Musker-Turner plays a lovely, big old harp beautifully and Sam Humphreys adds guitar, stomp percussion and loops.
is needed now More than ever
Together they make supercharged folk music that is almost custom tooled for late nights at moon dappled boutique festivals. It’s sometimes frantic and bouncy, sometimes clap-along anthemic, sometimes filled with a heart-swelling pride.
They divide the evening neatly in two. Part one is stacked with favourites and part two features the new album, Kistvaen, played from top to bottom. Picking out the best tunes would be a fruitless task but Cofi Cont’d is completely infectious, Jel l Caerdydd has an almost prog feeling and The Sing of Solomon whirls up accordion, pipes, a whistle, guitar, harp and those gorgeous Welsh words into something unmistakably groovy, something danceable.
So, just like Richard King, Calan are looking forward, taking what it means to be Welsh and polka-ing, jumping and step dancing into the next bit. Truly this is music from heaven itself.
Main photo: Gavin McNamara
Read more: Review: Sam Amidon, Bristol Folk House – ‘You never know where he is going to fly off to next’
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