Summary
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]
| Le Kov | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2 March 2018 | |||
| Genre | Electropop, psychedelic pop | |||
| Language | Cornish | |||
| Label | Heavenly Recordings | |||
| Producer | Rhys Edwards | |||
| Gwenno chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Le Kov | ||||
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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]
Background edit
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]
Critical reception edit
| 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]
Accolades edit
| 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 |
Track listing edit
| 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 |
Charts edit
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[28] | 13 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[29] | 98 |
References edit
- ^ a b "NEW ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENT: Gwenno 'Le Kov'". heavenlyrecordings.com. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
- ^ "Gwenno – Le Kov". Heavenly Emporium. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ a b "Le Kov - Gwenno | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
- ^ "New Album Announcement: Gwenno 'Le Kov'". Heavenlyrecordings.com. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ a b Petridis, Alexis. "How an ex-Vegas dancer made the first Cornish-language psych-pop album". theguardian.com. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Gwenno 'sparks record numbers' in Cornish exams". BBC. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ Deian Timms. "Beyond Great Powers and Big Labels: Soundtracks to Independence". Planet. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
- ^ a b "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ Sendra, Tim (March 2018). "Le Kov - Gwenno".
- ^ Blinov, Paul (28 February 2018). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim!. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ Hann, Michael (2 March 2018). "Gwenno: Le Kov review". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ Waltera, Tom (2 March 2018). "Loud and Quiet Review". Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ Murphy, John (2 March 2018). "MusicOMH Review". MusicOMH. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ Hodgkinson, Will (2 March 2018). "Pop review: Gwenno: Le Kov". The Times. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
- ^ Hodgkinson, Will (2 March 2018). "Pop review: Gwenno: Le Kov". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
- ^ a b "Le Kov | Caught by the River | Caught by the River". www.caughtbytheriver.net. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
- ^ a b Hann, Michael (2 March 2018). "Gwenno: Le Kov review – Cornish identity in full-colour psychedelia". the Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
- ^ "AIM Independent Music Awards 2018 Nominees Announced | Proper Music Group".
- ^ "Manic Street Preachers, Gruff Rhys and Gwenno up for 2018 Welsh music prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
- ^ "The 50 best albums of 2018". www.theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "MOJO's Top 75 Albums of 2018". www.mojo4music.com. MOJO. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "70 Best Albums of 2018". www.popmatters.com. PopMatters. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Albums of the Year 2018". thequietus.com. PopMatters. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Top 100 Albums of the year 2018". www.roughtrade.com. Rough Trade. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "Uncut's Top 50 Albums of 2018". www.uncut.co.uk. Uncut. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ "Top 100 Albums of 2018". www.undertheradarmag.com. Under the Radar. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 March 2018.