Bill Ryder-Jones announces details of new album ‘lechyd Da’
Almost five years since the release of his last studio album, Yawn, Bill Ryder-Jones has returned with his new single ‘This Can’t Go On’ and details of his forthcoming record, Iechyd Da.
“I love this album. I haven’t been this proud of a record since A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart,” Ryder-Jones said of the new release. Since he’s been away, the West Kirby native has kept busy by producing for the likes of Mick Head, Gerry Love and Saint Saviour, which he believes has made him “a bit more competent” behind the mixing desk.
Made at his Yawn studios in his hometown, the album has been previewed with the lead single ‘This Can’t Go On’ which, according to Ryder-Jones, captures him “on my way to a breakdown” walking aimlessly in the middle of the night. It arrives with a video directed by James Slater.
Elsewhere on Iechyd Da, he even recruited a set of children to assist on the track ‘I Know That It’s Like This (Baby)’. “I just thought I’d throw the kitchen sink in and get some kids as well,” Ryder-Jones remarked. “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.”
Explaining the album title, which translates as good health in Welsh, Ryder-Jones said of his adoration of the country: “My love of Wales has always been there. 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.”
On the hopeful nature of the LP, he adds: “Over the years my music has lost a bit of its hope I reckon. 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?”
Watch the video for ‘This Can’t Go On’ below.
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