Legendary ’90s ‘Cool Cymru’ stars return with new album

Nation.Cymru staff

One of the leading names of the ’90s Cool Cymru boom are back.

Derrero have been a mainstay of the Welsh scene for over 30 years since originally settling in Newport in 1996 where they released their debut single Tiny Shoes on Size 8 Records in 1997 and their debut LP later the same year after signing to Big Noise records in Cardiff.

Now they’re back with a new album and single. Derrero’s seventh studio album – Gliders – will be released on Friday, December 11 via Recordiau Prin. The album is preceded by a single The Way Forward on October 9.

Since the band’s foundation, Derrero have released six critically acclaimed albums and continue to self-produce and self-release uncompromising music entirely outside of the mainstream market.

The bulk of the new album was recorded at Palm Tree Studio in Kent in August 2025 with subsequent remote contributions over the last 12 months.

Many of the album’s songs were written by the band’s Andy Fung during a 2024 trip to Trinidad and Tobago where he lived until he was 16 – and the album also includes some recently discovered material originally written in 2000.

Derrero history

Derrero was formed by singers and guitar players Andy Fung and Ashley Cooke, keyboard player Mary Wycherley and bass player David Hirst. Their first single Dipstick / Tiny Shoes was released in 1997 on Size 8 Recordings, followed by their eponymous debut album on producer Greg Haver’s Big Noise Recordings.

They subsequently released three EPs before releasing their second full-length album Fixation with Long Journeys in 2000. In thre same year they also backed John Cale playing his song Buffalo Ballet in the Marc Evans-directed documentary Beautiful Mistake.

Their final album before disbanding, Comb the Breaks, was released in 2002 on Sylem Records.

Between 1999 and 2001, the band appeared three times on John Peel’s BBC Radio 1 show and their song Radar Intruder was included in the Peel-curated Peelennium list.

In 2016, the band reformed making their comeback as part of the Sŵn Festival. In 2019, Derrero released the Lost Fixations EP, their first new music in seventeen years. It was followed by three full-length albums: Time Lapse (2020), Curvy Lines (2022) and Breezing Up (2024).

New album Gliders will be released on Friday, December 11 via Recordiau Prin. The album is preceded by a single The Way Forward on October 9.

Discover Derrero’s back catalogue HERE

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