While I may not understand a single word of it, there is a beautiful cadence to the Welsh language and I have more than once mistaken Welsh for French because of this.
That beautiful cadence can be heard throughout Gillie’s EP Yn Y Bore.
And just as beautiful as the cadence of the Welsh language are Gillie’s vocals. Her voice dances with a wonderful sense of ease and grace, like the sun shining through stained glass windows.
With Yn Y Bore etching moments of time in Gillie’s life into song, this is also the first set of material she wrote in the Welsh language.
On the EP, Gillie explains,
“There have been a lot of changes in my life over the time I wrote this collection of songs. It captures a chapter of two years, with lots of uncertainty and big changes – as this track title suggests, I wanted to end the EP on something that says it’s all going to work itself out by the arrival of the morning.”
Hence the name of the EP Yn Y Bore which means In the Morning.
Gillie further adds,
“This is the first collection of tracks that I have ever released in Welsh, and it feels nice to bind them together within an EP. These songs are really special to me; I can hear the journey that I have gone on as an artist when I listen to them, and a growth in confidence. They are in chronological order with regards to when they were written and released, so I feel it takes the listener on a journey too. There are moments of light and dark throughout all four tracks, which perfectly encapsulates my feelings around uncertainty and change. It was really cathartic to explore space and texture within this EP, and lay a foundation for what’s to come next.”
What’s wonderful is that one does not need to understand the Welsh language to reap the soul moving experience of Yn Y Bore. Gillie is able to transcend the language barrier and creates music that one can understand through their heart and soul, even if the mind doesn’t know the language. With Yn Y Bore she proves like acts before her that music is the universal language no matter what tongue it is performed in and that the most important part of music is the connection between the notes and listener when music is created from the heart.
And Gillie has created from the heart.
Yn Y Bore is a fusion of majestic rhythms and breathless beats, but more importantly driven by Gillie’s lush and airy vocals that offer one an intimate connection to the soul.
