Ritual Cloak - Vanished in Transition (2023)

The Welsh project Ritual Cloak consists of Daniel Barnett, (known from the post-rock outfit Samoans) and producer Andrew Sanders. Together they released a new EP this year, which is said to be a change in their musical direction.

Vanished in Transition is filled with slow, introspective compositions that don't hurry anywhere and flow peacefully but also melancholically on and on. The post-rock origins of Barnett are pretty audible as the compositions are based on delicate guitar noise and slow, pulsating beats as well as some jazzy influences here and there. This corresponds brilliantly with the soft, sad vocals that feel like they were there but not really. Like a mist in the distance of this soundscape. It's no wonder that the album was born from the band's "fascination of disappearing", everything here is so airy that may as well suddenly disappear into thin air.

Vanished in Transition costs 9.5 EUR (8 GBP).    

Check: Left Behind

Country: Wales, UK

Genre: post-rock soundscape

Label: Bubblewrap Collective

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Excellent Skeleton - On Mercury Sea (2023)

The Cardiff-based Excellent Skeleton debuted this year with their combination of psychedelic noise scapes and traditional rock & roll" on the album called On Mercury Sea. And this is one solid and promising debut if I've ever seen one.

One of the music genre they quote as influential on their music is shoegaze, but it has to be said that the loud and noisy guitars sometimes give way to the lively melodies and unpretentious vocals (as in the very catchy Train Station). And if it is noisy, it is noisy in the style of Spiritualized: music as psychedelic as it can be packed in a good dose of loudness. This also includes the "choral" vocals that, for me, always felt like almost a gospel-like and I have a great sentiment for them. This debut from the British Isles sure sounds like happened some around two decades ago and I appreciate it very much. They know what they like in the music from back then and know what to do to achieve a similar sound, that's for sure.

On Mercury Sea costs 12 EUR (10 GBP).

Check: Mosquito

Country: Wales/UK

Genre: noisy psychedelic rock

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Thomas James White - The Deep Blue (2020) EN

The Welshman Thomas James White is one of the artists I follow for some time now. He appeared on the blog back in 2018 with an EP called Her and now he's back with his third (and the second one this year) album The Deep Blue.

His works are characterized by a smooth approach to the border between delicate electronic music reflecting both trip-hop and ambient and the neoclassical compositions on piano keys and strings. The electronic beeps and intriguing samples (like something that sounds like a flute in Beyond You) in quite lively compositions neighbour the melancholic, or perhaps even mawkish fragments dominated by classical instruments. Hidden at the end of the album, there's quite a different track though, The Deep Blue makes a real dream pop treasure with the accordingly dispersed melody, melancholic aftertaste and, surprise, surprise, vocals.

The Deep Blue costs 7 GBP.

Thomas James White - her (2018) EN

Check: The Deep Blue 

Country: Wales, UK

Genre: electronic neoclassical

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All I Heard Was Static - Wine Bottles And Bayonets (2019) EN

All I Heard Was Static is a lesser known duo from Wales led by Tom Wallace. Lesser known but on their new album, Wine Bottles And Bayonets, the artists showed that they are good in making an interesting, synth-based post-rock.

The leitmotif of the album is not-so-optimistic sentence "people are not good to each other", it appears in Heinrich, but seems to be present throughout the whole album. The lyrics appear in the songs thanks to the omnipresent samples taken from various sources and it makes the Welsh sound like my favourite Public Service Broadcasting (especially in Safe Places with samples taken from an oldschool educational broadcast (?)), but their music is rather based on the sounds of synthesizers and other electronic tricks. The last ones are very notable in my favourite track called Rockland and its fascinating finish.

Wine Bottles And Bayonets costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Rockland

Country: Wales, UK

Genre: synth post-rock

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