Bill Ryder-Jones announces first album in five years, lechyd Da

Iechyd Da is a record that is rooted in love, loss, pain, heartache and often a deep darkness, but also one that frequently ends up in places of profound beauty, hope and joy. “I love this album,” says Ryder-Jones, “I haven't been this proud of a record since A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart.” His first new record in five years; Iechyd Da is also his most ambitious to date.

“It’s my most produced record,” adds Ryder-Jones, who from his Yawn studios in West Kirby has recently been producing the likes of Mick Head, Gerry Love and Saint Saviour. “It’s basically me carrying on with myself again, but this time around I’m a bit more competent as a producer.”

The first cut from the new album, “This Can’t Go On”, features strings from a 1978 Flashlight song. It captures Ryder-Jones out in the pitch black of night, walking the streets, feeling lost, empty, and “on my way to a breakdown,” he says. Directed by James Slater, the wistful video for “This Can’t Go On” was filmed in Crail, Fife, referencing the album artwork painted by Dale Bissland.

lechyd Da follows on from 2018's Yawn. Due to Ryder-Jones’ deeply wide-screen approach to making Iechyd Da - one that has Mick Head reading Ulysses over an instrumental one moment (“...And the Sea…”) to sampling the Brazilian singer Gal Costa (“I Know That It’s Like This (Baby)”) – Bill even got children involved. “I just thought I'd throw the kitchen sink in and get some kids as well,” he says. “It was such a sweet day with them - quite moving. It's quite funny when kids sing because you can tell they're just tapped into the energy and not the sound.”

The name of the album means good health in Welsh, while the album’s closing “Nos Da” – a woozy lullaby – means goodnight.

“My love of Wales has always been there,” he says. “Half of my family is from there, I lost my brother there, all my childhood holidays were in Scotland or Wales. It's just a magical place with an incredibly beautiful language. Although I did have to go to Gruff Rhys and ask him about calling it this as I'm still very much an Englishman - he OK'd it.” “Over the years my music has lost a bit of its hope I reckon,” contemplates Bill Ryder-Jones. “It were important for me to make a record that had more hope in it. Even by my standards the last few years have been rocky, but I’ve chosen to soundtrack it with more positive music, you know?”

Tracklist:

1. I Know That It’s Like This (Baby)
2. A Bad Wind Blow In My Heart pt. 3
3. If Tomorrow Starts Without Me
4. We Don’t Need Them
5. I Hold Something In My Hand
6. This Can’t Go On
7. …And The Sea…
8. Nothing To Be Done
9. It’s Today Again
10. Christinha
11. How Beautiful I Am
12. Thankfully For Anthony
13. Nos Da