Heddlu is the new musical project by Rhodri Daniel. The Ceredigion native was a founding member of Welsh band Estrons new album, his debut album Tramor is out tomorrow via Zawn Records.
After finishing the band in 2019, Rhodri became aware that his hearing was severely damaged. Years of touring the live circuit had taken their toll, Rhodri ultimately being diagnosed with hearing loss, tinnitus and severe sensitivity to noise. The effects were so acute, Rhodri was unable to play live music, leading to him composing his critically acclaimed debut album (Cantref, 2022) in his head whilst completing the entirety of the Wales Coastal Path (900 miles). His family and namely his sister, were great sources of comfort and hope during this difficult period. Serendipity led Rhodri back to music, and heddlu was born. Meaning ‘Police’ in Welsh, from the words ‘peace-force’, heddlu‘s music has been true to its’ name, offering a force of peace to the songwriter.
Rhodri spent the next few years writing and experimenting with new sounds and instruments as his hearing slowly recovered. Whilst writing and recording his 2nd album, life found a way of both disrupting and influencing the creative process, leading to multiple re-writes and an entire album being erased. Eventually, despite the interruptions, heddlu’s 2nd album, ‘Tramor’ – was completed, we said his music is ladled with “soaring and fizzy driven melodies”. He talks us through the album track by track.
Y PELL
For some reason it always makes sense to me to have some sort of instrumental atmospheric introduction to the album, so set the scene somehow… And I was playing about on an old synth one day, and this chord pattern came out pretty quickly, which I was happy with as I expanded upon it and wrote the next song immediately afterwards.. I wanted the track to sound orange-pinky-purple, and god Damit, I think I nailed it.
FIRE A FLARE
Usually I write songs in my head before trying to re-create them on an instrument, but for this album, pretty much all the songs were written by jamming on an instrument first which was a nice change, and less frustrating as trying to recreate a sound in your head can be super time consuming, I’ve been known to spend weeks trying to get the sound I’m hearing…
Anyway, the chords for this song came quickly, and the rest was a lot of fun layering loads of synths and guitars to make a big wall of sound.
The song is message to someone who was leaving my life, to say that I will always be there for them, they just need to find me and let me know.
PAID BECSO AM DIM
“Paid Becso Am Dim”, meaning ‘Don’t worry about a thing’ in Welsh, was written for my sister who over the past few years, has been fiercely fighting breast cancer. Singing messages of optimism and hope, the song is was my small attempt to show the same comfort and support his sister had shown my during his own struggles with hearing damage a few years ago. She’s is now in remission!
CUT THE ROPE
“Cut The Rope”, is probably the most exposed and vulnerable song I’ve ever written, I usually shy away from it but it felt right for some reason.. it’s a raw, emotional plea for someone I loved to walk away, to save themselves. It’s about recognising your own damage and not wanting to drag someone else down with you.
I usually like writing songs that go to different places, have different sections with changing chords, but for some reason that didn’t feel right this time, I wanted to just build on one motif and expand on it until it reached a crescendo, I think it worked, I get emotional listening to it, and I usually don’t like listening to my songs. Ych a fi.
HONESTLY
I had the guitar chords for this track for many years, but I never had the chorus to tie it together, I sometimes wait years before the whole song is finished, as was the case on this occasion.
I don’t like writing filler or ‘good enough’ sections, to fill a track with sections I do like or are already finished. This is sung from the 1st person perspective towards an old partner who had a curious and loose relationship with the truth. She’ll never hear the song or know it was about her, so I don’t think it’s going to cause me any problems..
LE FAY
These chords came to me one day when I was messing about with a synth and a reverb pedal..
I was pining over a particularly enchanting American-Welsh woman at the time, (god these are all break-up songs…) so I wanted to paint a picture of a mythical Celtic sorceress casting spells somewhere over the Atlantic.
And as you can tell from the track, I absolutely nailed it.
Le Fay is named after ‘Morgana Le Fay’ who was the powerful enchantress of Arthurian legend.
WISH YOU WERE HER
Weirdly I had the name of this song 1st, I remembered a scene from the Simpsons where homer sends a postcard to Marge, with a half naked woman on the front, saying ‘Wish You Were Her’ instead of ‘here’. I always thought, oh man that would be a great name for a song”, I was amazed to find no-one else has ever released a song with this name!
“Wish You Were Her”, ended up being a raw emotionally charged track that pleads for someone close to grow into a better version of themselves—driven by equal parts frustration and love. Both confrontational and compassionate, it’s a self-aware lament that blurs the line between calling someone out and looking inward, it’s a bit mean but it’s how I felt at the time..
FATA MORGANA
I played the album to some friends, and they said this track was their favourite, which is HIGHLY insulting, as I don’t sing on it, and I didn’t write the main riff. Typical..
I heard this chord motif on a YouTube video about a synth I wanted to buy, I asked the creator if the song belonged to anyone and he said he made it up on the spot, so I asked if I could steal it..
The track sounded sad and lamentful so I used some voice notes from the aforementioned American-Welsh woman (with her permission), to create a picture of longing and loss.
Fata Morgana is the optical illusion/mirage you see on the horizon at sea, when the object in question has already passed the horizon line. It is named after the Italian name for ‘Morgana Le Fay’, the power enchantress of Arthurian legend, as if she has cast a spell on the sea.
Tramor
Meaning ‘overseas’ or ‘abroad’ in Welsh, ughhh it’s just another breakup song isnt it. The song is sad declaration of frustration and love and loss, to a partner when we realise that we are abroad and overseas from where we once were, and can’t find our way back to shore.
I like the harmonies at the end of the track, I tried creating this motif with a synth line, but I spent weeks trying to find the right sound, got fed up, and just sang it instead, it is acceptable.
Waits For No Man
I wrote the main motif on a 200 year old piano in a beautiful Pembrokeshire cottage overlooking the sea. I had the melody for a few years, forgot it, then it randomly came back to me one day when I was feeling sad and looking out to sea again.
My grandmother used to repeat old proverbs to me, I never paid much attention at the time and probably rolled my eyes… But now that she’s passed away, I find myself missing her and repeating the proverbs very often. ‘Time and tide waits for no man’ is a pretty powerful one that I find myself coming back to..
The song is a declaration to someone who is moving on, that time and tide waits for no man, but I will wait for them.
Deine, Fur Immer
Meaning ‘yours, forever’ in German. I wrote it for someone who was leaving my life, to let them know that as much as I don’t want them to go, I accept their decision, and I will always be here for them.
There are no vocals or lyrics in the track, I wanted to convey this message through music alone.
I think this is the best thing I have ever written and recorded, and as someone who hates pretty much everything I have ever done, I am ALLOWED to say this.
I can’t really listen to it without getting sad, so I think I did my job, nice 8/10 guitar solo at the end too, stick around for it. Diolch!
