Le Kov | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2 March 2018 | |||
Genre | Electropop, psychedelic pop | |||
Language | Cornish | |||
Label | Heavenly Recordings | |||
Producer | Rhys Edwards | |||
Gwenno chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Le Kov | ||||
|
Le Kov ("a place of memory" in Cornish [1]) is the second studio album by Welsh singer-songwriter Gwenno. It was released on 2 March 2018 [2] [3] on Heavenly Recordings. The first single from the album is "Tir Ha Mor (Land and Sea)". Heavenly Recordings claim Gwenno felt a duty to make her second album entirely in Cornish as a record of the living language. [4]
The songs on Le Kov are written and composed by Gwenno Saunders with help from Rhys Edwards, and features guest vocalist Gruff Rhys on the song "Daromres Y'n Howl". [3] The album also features drum engineering by Gorwel Owen, who has produced albums by both Rhys and his band Super Furry Animals . [1]
Gwenno Saunders grew up in a Cornish speaking family, with her father Tim Saunders writing Cornish poetry. Regarding her upbringing, she noted: "It was like living in a sort of cult of four people, in Riverside in Cardiff. I had no idea about popular culture. Years later, I said to my mum, 'Why didn’t you tell me about David Bowie or people like that?’ And she said that it was all just around, that I was always going to find out about that stuff myself. But it was really annoying for a while, because I’d meet people and have no idea what they were talking about – you know, ‘Who are Pavement?’” [5]
Gwenno was also, in part, inspired to record Le Kov due to a decision by the British government to cut funding towards the Cornish language in 2016: "There’s that argument that I think is really stupid: why do you have to learn Cornish or Welsh, why don’t you learn Mandarin? It’s like everything you do has to have monetary value. I think you have to find the non-monetary value in things.” [5] The album was later credited by the Cornish Language Board with encouraging a record number of students to take exams in the Cornish language during 2018. [6] [7]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 81/100 [8] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [9] |
Exclaim! | 8/10 [10] |
The Guardian | [11] |
Loud and Quiet | 8/10 [12] |
MusicOMH | [13] |
The Times | [14] |
Le Kov was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 81 based on 13 reviews. [8] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 80 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 17 reviews. [15]
Will Hodgkinson of The Times gave the album three out of five stars. [16] Helia Phoenix of Caught by the River praised the album, and linked Le Kov with the world's displaced people, [17] who are forced to abandon their language and culture. Phoenix described the album's music as "psychedelic" and compared Gwenno to Boards of Canada and Jane Birkin. [17] Michael Hann of The Guardian was also positive, giving Le Kov four out of five stars. [18] Hann was dismissive towards Gwenno's Cornish language, but praised the music: "It’s the melodies that will keep people coming back: purposeful and direct, but deliciously blurry, reminiscent of Broadcast in their creation of a psychedelia that looks backwards and forwards simultaneously." [18] The album was nominated in the 2018, AIM Independent Music Awards for 'Best Sophomore Release'. [19] The album was also shortlisted for the Welsh Music Prize. This is the annual music prize awarded for the best album from Wales. [20]
Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Guardian | United Kingdom | 50 best albums of 2018 [21] | 2018 | 39 |
Mojo | United Kingdom | MOJO’s Top 75 Albums of 2018 [22] | 2018 | 29 |
PopMatters | United States | PopMatters: 70 Best Albums of 2018 [23] | 2018 | 61 |
The Quietus | United Kingdom | Quietus: Albums of the Year 2018 [24] | 2018 | 96 |
Rough Trade Records | United Kingdom | Top 100 Albums of the year [25] | 2018 | 34 |
Uncut Magazine | United Kingdom | Top 50 Albums of the year [26] | 2018 | 32 |
Under the Radar | United States | Under the Radar Top 100 Albums of 2018 [27] | 2018 | 37 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Hi A Skoellyas Liv A Dhagrow" | 5:35 |
2. | "Tir Ha Mor" | 4:10 |
3. | "Herdhya" | 2:49 |
4. | "Eus Keus?" | 5:00 |
5. | "Jynn-amontya" | 5:50 |
6. | "Den Heb Taves" | 6:22 |
7. | "Daromres Y'n Howl" | 3:17 |
8. | "Aremorika" | 3:11 |
9. | "Hunros" | 2:32 |
10. | "Koweth Ker" | 5:42 |
Chart (2018) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Independent Albums ( OCC) [28] | 13 |
Scottish Albums ( OCC) [29] | 98 |
Le Kov | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 2 March 2018 | |||
Genre | Electropop, psychedelic pop | |||
Language | Cornish | |||
Label | Heavenly Recordings | |||
Producer | Rhys Edwards | |||
Gwenno chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Le Kov | ||||
|
Le Kov ("a place of memory" in Cornish [1]) is the second studio album by Welsh singer-songwriter Gwenno. It was released on 2 March 2018 [2] [3] on Heavenly Recordings. The first single from the album is "Tir Ha Mor (Land and Sea)". Heavenly Recordings claim Gwenno felt a duty to make her second album entirely in Cornish as a record of the living language. [4]
The songs on Le Kov are written and composed by Gwenno Saunders with help from Rhys Edwards, and features guest vocalist Gruff Rhys on the song "Daromres Y'n Howl". [3] The album also features drum engineering by Gorwel Owen, who has produced albums by both Rhys and his band Super Furry Animals . [1]
Gwenno Saunders grew up in a Cornish speaking family, with her father Tim Saunders writing Cornish poetry. Regarding her upbringing, she noted: "It was like living in a sort of cult of four people, in Riverside in Cardiff. I had no idea about popular culture. Years later, I said to my mum, 'Why didn’t you tell me about David Bowie or people like that?’ And she said that it was all just around, that I was always going to find out about that stuff myself. But it was really annoying for a while, because I’d meet people and have no idea what they were talking about – you know, ‘Who are Pavement?’” [5]
Gwenno was also, in part, inspired to record Le Kov due to a decision by the British government to cut funding towards the Cornish language in 2016: "There’s that argument that I think is really stupid: why do you have to learn Cornish or Welsh, why don’t you learn Mandarin? It’s like everything you do has to have monetary value. I think you have to find the non-monetary value in things.” [5] The album was later credited by the Cornish Language Board with encouraging a record number of students to take exams in the Cornish language during 2018. [6] [7]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 81/100 [8] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [9] |
Exclaim! | 8/10 [10] |
The Guardian | [11] |
Loud and Quiet | 8/10 [12] |
MusicOMH | [13] |
The Times | [14] |
Le Kov was met with "universal acclaim" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 81 based on 13 reviews. [8] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 80 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 17 reviews. [15]
Will Hodgkinson of The Times gave the album three out of five stars. [16] Helia Phoenix of Caught by the River praised the album, and linked Le Kov with the world's displaced people, [17] who are forced to abandon their language and culture. Phoenix described the album's music as "psychedelic" and compared Gwenno to Boards of Canada and Jane Birkin. [17] Michael Hann of The Guardian was also positive, giving Le Kov four out of five stars. [18] Hann was dismissive towards Gwenno's Cornish language, but praised the music: "It’s the melodies that will keep people coming back: purposeful and direct, but deliciously blurry, reminiscent of Broadcast in their creation of a psychedelia that looks backwards and forwards simultaneously." [18] The album was nominated in the 2018, AIM Independent Music Awards for 'Best Sophomore Release'. [19] The album was also shortlisted for the Welsh Music Prize. This is the annual music prize awarded for the best album from Wales. [20]
Publication | Country | Accolade | Year | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Guardian | United Kingdom | 50 best albums of 2018 [21] | 2018 | 39 |
Mojo | United Kingdom | MOJO’s Top 75 Albums of 2018 [22] | 2018 | 29 |
PopMatters | United States | PopMatters: 70 Best Albums of 2018 [23] | 2018 | 61 |
The Quietus | United Kingdom | Quietus: Albums of the Year 2018 [24] | 2018 | 96 |
Rough Trade Records | United Kingdom | Top 100 Albums of the year [25] | 2018 | 34 |
Uncut Magazine | United Kingdom | Top 50 Albums of the year [26] | 2018 | 32 |
Under the Radar | United States | Under the Radar Top 100 Albums of 2018 [27] | 2018 | 37 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Hi A Skoellyas Liv A Dhagrow" | 5:35 |
2. | "Tir Ha Mor" | 4:10 |
3. | "Herdhya" | 2:49 |
4. | "Eus Keus?" | 5:00 |
5. | "Jynn-amontya" | 5:50 |
6. | "Den Heb Taves" | 6:22 |
7. | "Daromres Y'n Howl" | 3:17 |
8. | "Aremorika" | 3:11 |
9. | "Hunros" | 2:32 |
10. | "Koweth Ker" | 5:42 |
Chart (2018) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Independent Albums ( OCC) [28] | 13 |
Scottish Albums ( OCC) [29] | 98 |