On Friday, Bill Ryder-Jones will release his fifth album, the magnificent Iechyd Da. Beautifully produced, rich in scope, at times joyous, grand and sweeping, at others heartbreaking, intimate and tender, it’s his most ambitious record to date.
Ahead of the release, Ryder-Jones is pleased to share a third taste of the album with “I Hold Something In My Hand”. Lyrically in potent form, Ryder-Jones celebrates directness, being more open and honest than ever, whilst always able to seamlessly balance sadness with stunning beauty. Soaring violins and cello come together with gentle horns as “I Hold Something In My Hand” hits its powerful crescendo.
Edited by Bill Ryder-Jones, the video for “I Hold Something In My Hand” features behind the scenes footage filmed by Liam Power and Marieke Macklon.
Iechyd Da is a record that is rooted in love, loss, pain, heartache and often a deep darkness, but also one that frequently ends up in places of profound beauty, hope and joy. “I love this album,” says Bill. Recorded at his Yawn studios in West Kirby, Ryder-Jones took a deeply wide-screen approach to making the album – one that has Mick Head reading Ulysses over an instrumental one moment (“…And the Sea…”) to sampling the Brazilian singer Gal Costa (“I Know That It’s Like This (Baby)”) – Bill even got children involved.
The name of the album means good health in Welsh; “Over the years my music has lost a bit of its hope I reckon,” contemplates Bill Ryder-Jones. “It were important for me to make a record that had more hope in it. Even by my standards the last few years have been rocky, but I’ve chosen to soundtrack it with more positive music, you know?” Iechyd Da to you and yours.
