Experimental folk artist Osgled returns with new EP

Stephen Price

Machynlleth-based artist Osgled has returned with a new six-track EP which explores the beauty of transformation and the restorative power of the natural world.

Produced by Osgled and Louis O’Hara, and recorded at CWRW Studios in Carmarthen, Pydru Ymlaen expands Osgled’s distinctive world of experimental folk, atmospheric electronics and dreamlike vocals into a collection that meditates on renewal, decay and the quiet spaces between action and change.

Taking its title from the evocative Welsh phrase Pydru Ymlaen (“to rot forwards”), the EP embraces the idea that growth often begins with breakdown, where endings become the fertile ground for renewal.

Across six immersive songs, Osgled reflects on confinement and freedom, political longing, language, landscape, and the healing rhythms of nature.

Opening with the contemplative Fel y Mae, the EP sits with the stillness that often comes before action, exploring patience, observation and emotional readiness.

Traditional Gàidhlig folk song Crodh Chailein is reimagined as a haunting lullaby, recorded with Glasgow-based artist Susannah Stark after the pair first met by chance on a train home from Belgium’s Meakusma Festival. Their collaboration reflects the unexpected connections and shared cultural threads running throughout the record.

Moving effortlessly between the personal and the political, Pydru Ymlaen reflects on the fragility of dreams, identity and belonging.

Pladuro explores the fading promise of Scottish independence, while Traed Moch, the EP’s lead single, draws on the claustrophobia of the pandemic, balancing cycles of rumination with the restorative act of stepping outside into nature.

Hwiangerdd Gwenno, written for Bethan’s young cousin growing up between Welsh and Gàidhlig, quietly celebrates language, family and cultural inheritance.

Closing track Wu Wei takes inspiration from the Taoist concept of effortless action, offering a gentle meditation on acceptance and learning to move with, rather than against, life’s natural flow.

Richly textured yet deeply personal, Pydru Ymlaen transforms intimate experiences into expansive, atmospheric soundscapes.

It is a record that lingers in the spaces between decay and renewal, stillness and movement, inviting listeners into a world where decay and renewal exist side by side, and where transformation becomes an act of hope.

In doing so, it establishes Osgled as one of the most distinctive new voices in contemporary Welsh experimental folk.

Stream Prydu Ymlaen on all platforms now.

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