Don Leisure ft: Carwyn Ellis - Cynnau Tân (Single)
Picture Credit: Rhys Grail
Welsh beatmaker Don Leisure has cemented his name as one of the most forward thinking and experimental beatmakers & producers within the current musical ecosystem. As well as being 50% of Darkhouse Family (alongside Earl Jeffers) he has collaborated with the likes of Angel Bat Dawid, Gruff Rhys, DJ Spinna and First Word label-mates Amanda Whiting & Tyler Daley (Children of Zeus).
Garnering serious support from Lauren Laverne, Tom Ravenscroft, Huw Stephens, Gilles Peterson, Huey Morgan, The Vinyl Factory, Clash, Uncut and many more. A dedicated student of music, over the years Don has amassed a vast encyclopaedic knowledge of music genres and subcultures, including a fascination with Welsh psychedelic folk music from the mid-20th century. This introduction was made by respected musician, producer & selector Andy Votel’s 2005 two-part compilation series ‘Welsh Rare Beat’ (in collaboration with Gruff Rhys and Don Thomas), comprising twenty-five tracks from Sain Records’ back catalogue. Now the oldest independent record label in Wales, Sain is a wildly influential bastion of home-grown Welsh talent, co-founded by Welsh-language folk singer Dafydd Iwan, whose music has seen a cultural resurgence in recent years with his 1983 song Yma o Hyd (We’re Still Here) becoming a huge anthem for Wales football fans. Set up in the Welsh capital, many of Sain’s early releases were recorded at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, but in the early 1970s the record company moved to the Caernarfon area and opened their first recording studio in 1974 near Llandwrog.
Now taking his own turn to dig into the label’s musical treasure chest, Don puts his signature, unparalleled and unpredictable skills to work, flipping two classic Sain Records tracks from cult psych-folk cuts into brand new offering ‘Cynnau Tân’. Joining forces with fellow countryman Carwyn Ellis on vocals (who has recently collaborated with Coco Maria as part his Rio 18 project, and whom Don calls “one of the most interesting voices in Welsh music today”) the duo take a trip down a sonic rabbit hole. With the English translation meaning‘Light A Fire’, its smouldering 60’s tripped out atmospheres meld with delay-soaked, spiralling vocals and a hypnotic chord sequence to incredible effect. On the pair’s collaboration, Carwyn explains : “It’s been an absolute pleasure collaborating again with the Don. He contributed to our latest Rio 18 album, so it was nice to return the favour. His knowledge of old school Welsh records is obsessive, bordering on excessive!”. With a larger project on the horizon for 2025, this single shines a light on some uncovered gems from an inspiring, but often overlooked body of work.