Freyja Elsy channels Celtic mythology on "Another Life" single ahead of new EP
Freyja Elsy has released "Another Life", the latest preview of her forthcoming EP, to stop the world turning, which lands on 11 September independently. The track deepens the Cardiff-based artist’s blend of electronic textures and acoustic instrumentation, folding in Welsh-language lyrics and folklore.
Built around soft, cyclical delays and led by guitar, piano, and double bass, "Another Life" is described by Elsy as “a revelatory moment – a sudden burst of sunshine through the clouds, a light breeze in the middle of a scorching heatwave. At the same time came an existential drop in the stomach. What might have happened if I hadn’t forged that path for myself? Whose journey might I still be part of?” she says in a press statement.
That tension – between the assurance of having taken the right path and grieving for unlived lives – runs through the track. “There was a strange feeling of grief as I realised that there might be facets of life I will never experience because of the paths I had chosen,” Elsy adds. “It’s a weird dichotomy.”
The song marks Elsy’s first lyric written in Cymraeg, a language she’s been learning for the past couple of years. The line “Mae’r hydref yn cyrraedd / A mae Lleu yn gadael, eto” means “Autumn is arriving, and Lleu is leaving again”, introducing an homage to Welsh folklore. Some etymologists link the figure Lleu to the Celtic sun god Lugh, and for Elsy the image reinforces the song’s wider preoccupation with seasonal change and the close of childhood.
The new single arrives alongside previous tracks "In My Veins" and "Control", which together sketch the emotional arc of to stop the world turning. Across those tracks, Elsy’s textured, self-produced approach has earned support from BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio 6 Music, and spot on the BBC Horizons and PRS Foundation-backed Forté Project in 2025.
to stop the world turning is released on 11 September independently
Sign up to Best Fit's Substack for regular dispatches from the world of pop culture