Utopia (LP)

Having released three albums in Welsh and Cornish, 'Utopia' is Gwenno Saunders' first album recorded predominantly in English, and presents a very different side to her life and songwriting. 'Utopia', Saunders' fourth solo album, is an extraordinary exploration of all of these selves. If the singer regards her first three solo records - 2014's 'Y Dydd Olaf', 2018's 'Le Kov' and 2022's 'Tresor' as 'childhood records', rooted in her upbringing, her parents, her formative identity, then 'Utopia' captures a time of self-determination and experimentation. These are songs of discovery, of the years between being someone's daughter and becoming someone's wife and someone's mother. They range from floor-fillers to piano ballads, via contributions from Cate Le Bon and H. Hawkline, and encompass William Blake, a favourite Edrica Huws poem, and the Number 73 bus. It is her finest work to date.