Gwenno Announces Fourth Solo Album 'Utopia' With Lead Single Dancing On Volcanoes
Monday, 07 April 2025
Written by Jon Stickler
Photo: Clare Marie Bailey
Gwenno has laid out plans for a new album.
The follow-up to 2022's Mercury Prize-nominated 'Tresor' is titled 'Utopia' and will arrive through Heavenly Recordings on July 11.
Having sung on previous records in Welsh and Cornish, the Welsh artist is singing predominantly in English for album four, which is produced by her long-time collaborator Rhys Edwards and features contributions from Cate Le Bon and H. Hawkline. Gwenno said:
"I feel as if I’ve written a debut record, because it’s a different language and it’s a different part of my life. It’s about that point where I go out into the world on my own, which people generally write about first, and then get on with their lives. But it’s taken me so long to digest it — I needed 20 years just to make sense of things, and I realized the starting point of my creative life isn’t Wales, it’s actually North America.”
As a preview, the singer-songwriter has shared the record's hypnotic first single, Dancing On Volcanoes, which unfurls across breezy instrumentation. Describing its vibe, she said:
"Jarvis Cocker dancing alone on stage, surrounded by dry ice, perfectly conveying the loss of our congregational dancing and drinking in small venues with a slight swing of the hip and flick of a hand. Dancing 'til 5am at Le Mandela restaurant in Grangetown, Cardiff... the Pet Shop Boys' perfectly aimed observations on modern life... the spirit of Johnny Marr on guitar, his echoes of the Celtic sea passed down through the generations... the need to dance as a cathartic act... it's all here - Dancing on Volcanoes!"
The record reflects on Gwenno's journey so far, including her time as a disaffected Cardiff schoolgirl, teenage Las Vegas dancer and member of The Pipettes. She explained: "Everything’s a diary entry for me. And in writing about all of this I’ve remembered the chaos of myself. You get to this point and you go ‘God, that quarter of a century went fast.’ But I want to acknowledge it, and respect it and say, for better or worse, all of that happened."
Gwenno will play a handful of UK shows this spring and summer, including a date supporting Alanis Morissette in Cardiff and an appearance at Green Man Festival. Tickets are on sale now.
'Utopia' tracklist:
1. London 1757
2. Dancing On Volcanoes
3. Utopia
4. Y Gath
5. War
6. 73
8. The Devil
8. Ghost Of You
9. St Ives New School
10. Hireth
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