“DIOLCH YN FAWR!!!!” screams Bagillt born Owens as she takes to Twitter after her win. “I am absolutely over the moon to have won the 2021 Welsh Music Prize! Being recognised by my homeland in this way is so so special!”, she continues, “Wales has shaped me as an artist & continues to be a place of inspiration to me. My nana Jeannette would be so proud.”.” Diolch yn fawr” means “Thank you very much” by the way.

DIOLCH YN FAWR!!!! I am absolutely over the moon to have won the 2021 @welshmusicprize ! Being recognised by my homeland in this way is so so special! Wales has shaped me as an artist & continues to be a place of inspiration to me. My nana Jeannette would be so proud pic.twitter.com/2rtkoo7uHd

— Kelly Lee Owens (@kellyleeowens) November 23, 2021

2020’s Inner Song is an incredible piece of art from front to back, allowing for some moments of her Welsh heritage to shine, like on single “Corner of My Sky” featuring John Cale, has passages sung in Welsh by Cale himself. Sections of thumping techno beats blend into sweet effervescent instrumentals that feel no way out of place. The LP even opens with a cover of Radiohead’s 2007 classic “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” from In Rainbows. As if there wasn’t already enough going on.

“Inner Song” has been described as: “a tribute to the loner in everyone. Through a batch of loop-heavy tracks, Owens conveys an overarching sense of solitude and allows the listener to explore that feeling in each song. She guides the listener through each song with ease, throwing out the conventions of electronic music in favour of a cerebral journey through a computerized stew of glitchy, elegant beats”. You can read the full review of the album here.

As the winner of the prize, Owens is also awarded £10,000, some of which she has pledged to donate to welsh charities.

Owens is also currently touring the UK. After already completing dates in Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, Newcastle, Leeds, and Birmingham; you can still get tickets to a few of the remaining shows here. There were a host of European tour dates also set for 2021 that have all been cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions in Europe.

See below the remaining dates on Owens UK Tour.

 25/11/2021 – Y Plas – Cardiff
27/11 – Patterns – Brighton
30/11 – The Ritz – Manchester
02/12 – Earth – London

Alfie Templeman
BABii
Black Country, New Road
Eloise
Employed To Serve
Far Caspian
Gunship
Idles (pictured)
John Smith
Max Cooper
Poppy Ajudha
Puma Blue
Sainté
Snapped Ankles
Strawberry Guy
The Anchoress
Theon Cross
Violet Skies
Walt Disco
Yard Act

British music is undeniably a global export, 1 in 10 songs streamed globally are produced by British artists. But this number is not as high as it used to be. In 2015 the UK’s share of the global market was at 17%, now that has slipped to 10% today. This scheme is here to allow some smaller British artists to achieve their full potential overseas, by giving larger access to equipment, licensing, travel, and any other aspects of a band’s routine that allow their music to be heard in other countries. In 2020, the scheme generated £36 million in revenues. Put another way, for every £1 put in by the government, the artists generated 12x that amount. Geoff Taylor, the chief executive of the BPI, backs this by saying “The UK punches well above its weight as the largest exporter of music in the world after the US”.

In regards to boosting the UK’s music scene after covid, Taylor said “Labels continue to invest very heavily in developing new talent and they’re working on new ways to get artists out there. As an industry, we are working on new ways to bring new music to fans, but there’s no doubt it’s harder under a Covid environment.” He adds, “MEGS funding provides a crucial avenue for UK artists to invest early and develop audiences in markets that are traditionally expensive to break. For years, Idles’ renowned live show has been in demand across LATAM, and this support helps us meet that demand with genuine marketing and promotional activity and continue to grow their profile”.

Mike Freer MP, Minister for Exports at the Department for International Trade (@tradegovuk) praised the UK music industry, and reiterated the ambition to grow British music.

Read the story in full https://t.co/yY9GjZgxL6 pic.twitter.com/LPeDHhUhGD

— BPI (@bpi_music) November 18, 2021

The scheme tries to cover as much popular music as Britain has to offer. IDLES, Black Country – New Road, Yard Act, and Snapped Ankles all fall under the ever-increasing brand of Post-Punk. Eloise, BABii, and Sainté are all making moves in the realm of British Pop. Acts like Strawberry Guy and Gunship also offer their own takes on folk and synthwave that also prove that British music comes in many, many forms.

The talented artist took to her Instagram to announce the news with a snippet from the show.

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A post shared by The Anchoress (@theanchoressofficial)

Within Sir John’s show, Rocket Hour, the songstress was interviewed regarding her new album entitled The Art of Losing released 12th March 2021. The new material sees the talented singer collaborate with friend and fellow musician James Dean Bradfield, best known as the frontman for legendary British rock band Manic Street Preachers. The band began their musical partnership with The Anchoress in July 2016, the singer provided support and also duetted with the band within the Eden Project, an education and socially focused botanical garden and venue located in Cornwall. The musical acts would again perform with each other the following year and again in October of the same year, they performed a duet of “Little Baby Nothing” at the Q Awards. She would then join the band on their 2018 album Resistance Is Futile, the album features a duet with the pair entitled “Dylan & Caitlin”. Band-member Nicky Wire has once stated that the intentions for the song were inspired by Sir John’s duet with Kiki Dee, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”.

Born as Catherine Anne Davies, The Anchoress described how the pair initially collaborated on the track “The Exchange” whilst expressing her excitement to work with her musical hero. “We are good friends now, yeah. I mean, I grew up just completely idolising the band. So for me, it was a bit of a dream come true to duet on their record, their last album. And then, I thought, “Well, I’ll ask him if he’ll return the favour on mine,” which he dutifully did. I don’t know if it was under duress. But yeah, it was amazing to hear that song back, something that I’d written, and then hear our voices together, when I’d grown up singing along to Manic records since I was 12 years old. So it was just, yeah, mad, absolutely mad.”

The Art of Losing was released via indie record label Kscope, the label is focused on the alternative and progressive rock genres and have a roster full of great acts. The album was written and self-produced by Davies, the singer also talked to Sir John concerning the producing process. “I wrote and produced the entire thing myself in the studio here, that you can see. So I had that luxury of not having an A&R person over my shoulder saying, “Oh, we need a couple more tunes like this.” So it is completely an artistic indulgence. And how often do you get to do that anymore?”

The singer’s new album can be described as filmic, with lyrics full of personal subject matter describing emotions such as grief and anger resulting in a storytelling lyrical context. Davies discussed this musical quality with Sir John, “I mean, I was really lucky to get to do a kind of expanded three-CD edition. And it’s got these beautiful alternative images, very David Lynch inspired. It’s almost like there is a kind of filmic quality, I guess, to the album. And it takes the listener on a journey. I’m desperate to play, but equally, we’ve got to be careful about playing live. And it’s just unknown at the moment, isn’t it? I think we’re all in the same boat.”

Within the interview, Sir John discussed gender roles within the music industry and stated how female singers and performers were leading the way. The “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” singer stated “That Female Artists ‘Are Doing All The Good Work’…I can see the vision in the songs, a bit like Rina Sawayama. The female artists at the moment are doing all the good work. The boys are lagging really, really behind… It’s all about the females at the moment, as far as I’m concerned.” Listen to the episode here.

The Anchoress is set to hit the road this Autumn with performance dates starting on 9th September 2021, the singer will also join long term musical partners Manic Street on several dates.

09/09/2021 – Hull Central Library – Kingston Upon Hull
11/09 – Trades Club – Hebden Bridge
25/09 – Long Division Festival 2021 – Wakefield
26/09 – O2 City Hall (With Manic Street Preachers) – Newcastle
28/09 – Usher Hall (With Manic Street Preachers) – Edinburgh
29/09 – The Caird Hall Dundee (With Manic Street Preachers) – Dundee
01/10 – Victoria Hall (With Manic Street Preachers) – Stoke-on-trent
02/10 – O2 Apollo Manchester (With Manic Street Preachers) – Manchester
04/10 – York Barbican Centre (With Manic Street Preachers) – York
07/10 – O2 Academy Leeds (With Manic Street Preachers) – Leeds
08/10 – Guildhall Studio (With Manic Street Preachers) – Portsmouth
10/10 – O2 Academy Bournemouth (With Manic Street Preachers) – Bournemouth
11/10 – Cambridge Corn Exchange (With Manic Street Preachers) – Cambridge
13/10 – The Forum (With Manic Street Preachers) – Bath
14/10 – Brighton Done (With Manic Street Preachers) – Brighton
11/03/2022 – Boileroom – Guildford
12/03 – Gloucester Guildhall – Gloucester
13/03 – Trades Club – Hebden Bridge
14/03 – Hull Central Library – Kingston Upon Hull
01/05 – Queen Elizabeth Hall – London

Today… 10.30am https://t.co/JX6gNWvADG

— The Anchoress (@The_Anchoress) March 9, 2021

The musician, also known as Catherine Anne Davies, said about the track: “I was so lucky that James agreed to lend his vocal to this track. It was written as a duet that explores a toxic dynamic created by those that see people as puppets rather than as human beings. When I first pulled his vocal into the finished track, I had one of those goosebump moments where you pinch yourself that one of your childhood idols is singing a song that I wrote.” 

Bradfield commented: “It was an intense experience for me. The direction was clear but it took me a while to zone in on the feel. It inadvertently helped me in how to sing some of the songs on Even In Exile [his 2020 solo album]. I learnt a new way to approach a song with her help.”  The video was directed by filmmaker JJ Eringa, and stars actor Genevieve Anderson. The dark and eerie music video features the quote: “He had never regarded other men as anything but puppets of a sort, created to fill up an empty world,” from 19th-century French writer Guy de Maupassant.  Discussing the video, The Anchoress mused: “We wanted to make a bit of a homage to The Red Shoes. We follow her fate as she is forced to play piano until her hands bleed, only to be brought back to life time and time again when she collapses with exhaustion.” 

The new album has already been named as album of the week from both the Mail on Sunday and The Line of Best Fit. The Telegraph has described it as: “A lyrically bold, musically lush art rock investigation of grief on which she sounds like a cross between torch-singing Chrissie Hynde and David Bowie on a synth-pop death trip.” 

Thanks to @TimdeLisle for making The Art of Losing the Mail on Sunday Album of the Week

The only only time I hope to ever be sharing space with Piers Morgan…

Read Tim’s lovely review here: https://t.co/XvE8NTNrX8

The album is out on Friday: https://t.co/lJfbssHUwp pic.twitter.com/obxP0hw94t

— The Anchoress (@The_Anchoress) March 8, 2021

Davies created her stage name, The Anchoress, in 2013. In 2016 she released her debut album 2016’s Confessions of a Romance Novelist, which scooped multiple awards and nominations, including HMV’s Welsh Album of the Year and Best Newcomer at the PROG Awards. She has supported Manic Street Preachers and performed with Simple Minds. 

Like those two tracks, The Art of Losing adopts a sombre and uncompromising lyrical tone. Quoted in the accompanying lyric video, Davies says “This song is the centre of the album thematically speaking. Every idea about interrogating loss and what we learn or gain from it is funnelled through it. In a way it’s an upbeat reworking of the Nietzschean themes I explored on my debut – “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” – but here, I guess, I’m arriving at a refutation of that myth, which I think is pretty pointless when you’re trying to rationalise grief. I think it’s something that we can all relate to in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.”

The Anchoress has cited the Manic Street Preachers gothic masterpiece The Holy Bible as a key thematic influence on the new record. In an interview with NME this week, Davies spoke about the undiminished visceral, emotional power of the 1994 classic – the Blackwood icons’ last outing as a fourpiece before the tragic disappearance of Richey Edwards – which memorably delved into some of the darkest recesses of human history and modern life.

She said “A lot of people think of that as a really dark and challenging listen, but for me, it was always a record that I would return to as something which could help let out any difficult things I was going through. There’s actually something really joyous about listening to dark records. The challenge, in taking on a subject that naturally lends itself to downtempo, introspective ballads, was forcing myself to do something much more experimental, musically.”

The Art of Losing (the LP)’s Manic Street Preachers connections don’t end there, either. The new album was mixed by long-time Manics’ stablemate Dave Eringa, and incorporates vocal and guitar contributions from the band’s multi-talented frontman James Dean Bradfield. The Anchoress – who has previously toured with the Gwent trio and performed a duet with Bradfield on their 2018 track Dylan & Caitlin – said that the presence of a rock legend had given her an extra incentive to creative something special. She told NME: “There’s nothing like that to egg you on in terms of doing your best work when you know that you’ve got a voice like James Dean Bradfield’s that’s going to be appearing on it.”

Davies – who first burst onto the scene with her Welsh Music Prize-nominated 2016 debut Confessions Of A Romance Novelist – was also busy in action during 2020, scoring a UK number #14 album with Suede guitarist Bernard Butler on their collaborative album In Memory of My Feelings. While acknowledging the pride she and Butler have in the record – which she appeared on as Catherine Anne Davies rather than her stage name – the Glynneath product said that she was excited to get back to work on solo projects.

In a recent interview with Music Radar, she said: “By its very nature ‘The Memory Of My Feelings’ is such a different record from an Anchoress record, because when you come in together and it’s two people that have got different skill sets, even if they massively overlap, you’ve got to make space for each other. So that necessitated me kind of giving up a lot of control that I would normally have to have.“

Show Your Face‘s fiery lyrics and its brooding, horror film-influenced video (which opens with one of Donald Trump’s most sinister quotes) introduce the themes of misogyny and male aggression which look set to feature heavily on the new Anchoress LP. The Glynneath-born artist spoke to NME about her determination to address the uncomfortable subject matter.

She said “Amidst the #MeToo headlines, I was thinking a lot about toxic masculinity and how hard it is for women to call-out men in power. The title is also an allusion to Psalm 102 – the prayer of the afflicted – a text that is deeply woven throughout the whole album’s lyrical themes about how we make sense of trauma.”

Show Your Face incorporates guitar from Manic Street Preachers icon James Dean Bradfield – who previously linked up with The Anchoress on the Gwent trio’s 2018 track Dylan & Caitlin – and was mixed by long-time Manics collaborator Dave Eringa, who has a plethora of production credits to his name for work with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Ocean Colour Scene, Idlewild and Roger Daltrey. The track also features a cameo from veteran American musician Sterling Campbell, who has previously drummed for Cyndi Lauper, Duran Duran and David Bowie.

The release of Show Your Face caps off a busy 2020 for The Anchoress (also known by her birth name, Catherine Anne Davies), who recently collaborated with Suede and The Tears’ guitarist Bernard Butler on their joint album In Memory of My Feelings. The LP, which reached #14 in the official UK Albums Chart, was hailed by the Sunday Times as “a wonderful album of intense rock music.”

“A wonderful album of intense rock music.” SUNDAY TIMES

“A terrific record!”
⭑⭑⭑⭑ MOJO

“Like the most dissolute moments of Bowie’s Heroes.”
⭑⭑⭑⭑ UNCUT

“A splendid showcase for both artists. Simply mesmerising!“ PROG#InMemoryOfMyFeelingshttps://t.co/jURDZ9GiWF pic.twitter.com/aHBz62Y9tF

— The Anchoress (@The_Anchoress) October 19, 2020

Davies’ upcoming solo album The Art Of Losing follows on her 2016 debut Confessions Of A Romance Novelist, which was nominated for the Guardian critics’ Album of the Year and the Welsh Music Prize, and won HMV’s Welsh Album of the Year. Three EPs, a live album and the collaboration with Bernard Butler have been released in the interim; while last year the prolific songstress launched a podcast series (also entitled The Art Of Losing) delving into the difficult issues of grief and loss.

The Anchoress will showcase songs from The Art Of Losing with a return to the stage at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Central London on Friday 12th March 2021. Tickets for the show are available here. Fans can also pre-order the new album ahead of its release on 5th March on her website.

A huge honour to have @steve_lamacq premiere “Show Your Face” on @BBC6Music. Amazing guitar courtesy of James Dean Bradfield @Manics.

“The Art of Losing” is available now to pre-order now! Signed bundles are exclusive to my official store & ltd in number: https://t.co/2F4lV80hG7 pic.twitter.com/kVYvFo5UNr

— The Anchoress (@The_Anchoress) November 2, 2020

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It’s coming out on Oct 16th! Last orders for the deluxe vinyl bundle! We are now down to the last 25 remaining signed lyric sheet & vinyl bundles in the official Needle Mythology store. If you want one, get there quickly and preorder! Myself and @bernardbutlerofficial have both signed these lyric sheets which are exclusive to the official store and only come with the deluxe vinyl bundle. (LINK IN BIO)

A post shared by The Anchoress (@theanchoressofficial) on Oct 6, 2020 at 1:48pm PDT

Davies and Butler have drip-fed fans three singles from the new record over recent months: the piano-led ballad The Breakdown; Texas-esque pop rock number Ten Good Reasons; and the jangly, guitar-driven Sabotage (Looks So Easy) which feels reminiscent of early 90s Suede. The latter came with an innovative, lockdown-inspired video.

While it was recorded in just fifteen days, the record has been four years in the making. Butler told Louder Sound he’d even feared the album might not see the light of the day: “I’d got used to the idea that the record might never emerge. Occasionally, I’d listen to it on my headphones if I was on the bus or something, I always had the same thought, ‘I wish I could go to a record shop and buy this‘.”

Glynneath-born Davies is no stranger to a collaboration, having teamed up with compatriots Manic Street Preachers for the sweet duet Dylan & Catilin in 2018, and appeared on Simple Minds’ 2018 album Walk Between Worlds. Davies, who last week delighted fans with a synth-drenched rendition of the Chris Isaak classic Wicked Game, outlined her and Butler’s no-nonsense approach to song-writing and recording on her Instagram recently: “I’d like to think we naturally slid into a Morrissey/Marr style dynamic without ever really talking about it. Like much of how it was made, we just got on and did it without procrastination. Some days we were so prolific we would knock out 2 or 3 finished songs. That’s a rare thing in this industry.”

The Suede veteran has dedicated the new album to Mako Sakamoto, his former bandmate in The Tears. Butler, who has previously described Sakamoto as “my friend, musical partner and hero“, posted an emotional tribute on his Instagram account this week.

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