Le Kov

Last updated

Le Kov
GwennoLeKov.jpg
Studio album by
Gwenno
Released2 March 2018
Genre Electropop, psychedelic pop
Language Cornish
Label Heavenly Recordings
Producer Rhys Edwards
Gwenno chronology
Y Dydd Olaf
(2015)		Le Kov
(2018)		 Tresor
(2022)
Singles from Le Kov
  1. "Tir Ha Mor"
    Released: 15 January 2018
  2. "Eus Keus?"
    Released: 2 Mar 2018

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]

Contents

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

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

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 81/100 [8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Exclaim! 8/10 [10]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
Loud and Quiet 8/10 [12]
MusicOMH Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [13]
The Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [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

PublicationCountryAccoladeYearRank
The Guardian United Kingdom50 best albums of 2018 [21] 201839
Mojo United KingdomMOJO’s Top 75 Albums of 2018 [22] 201829
PopMatters United StatesPopMatters: 70 Best Albums of 2018 [23] 201861
The Quietus United KingdomQuietus: Albums of the Year 2018 [24] 201896
Rough Trade Records United KingdomTop 100 Albums of the year [25] 201834
Uncut Magazine United KingdomTop 50 Albums of the year [26] 201832
Under the Radar United StatesUnder the Radar Top 100 Albums of 2018 [27] 201837

Track listing

No.TitleLength
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

Chart (2018)Peak
position
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [28] 13
Scottish Albums (OCC) [29] 98

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References

  1. 1 2 "NEW ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENT: Gwenno 'Le Kov'". heavenlyrecordings.com. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "Gwenno – Le Kov". Heavenly Emporium. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Le Kov - Gwenno | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  4. ↑ "New Album Announcement: Gwenno 'Le Kov'". Heavenlyrecordings.com. 22 November 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  5. 1 2 Petridis, Alexis. "How an ex-Vegas dancer made the first Cornish-language psych-pop album". theguardian.com. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "Gwenno 'sparks record numbers' in Cornish exams". BBC. 20 October 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  7. ↑ Deian Timms. "Beyond Great Powers and Big Labels: Soundtracks to Independence". Planet . Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  8. 1 2 "Metacritic Review". Metacritic . Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  9. ↑ Sendra, Tim (March 2018). "Le Kov - Gwenno".
  10. ↑ Blinov, Paul (28 February 2018). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim! . Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  11. ↑ Hann, Michael (2 March 2018). "Gwenno: Le Kov review". The Guardian . Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  12. ↑ Waltera, Tom (2 March 2018). "Loud and Quiet Review". Loud and Quiet . Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  13. ↑ Murphy, John (2 March 2018). "MusicOMH Review". MusicOMH . Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  14. ↑ Hodgkinson, Will (2 March 2018). "Pop review: Gwenno: Le Kov". The Times . Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  15. ↑ "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  16. ↑ Hodgkinson, Will (2 March 2018). "Pop review: Gwenno: Le Kov". The Times. ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  17. 1 2 "Le Kov | Caught by the River | Caught by the River". www.caughtbytheriver.net. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  18. 1 2 Hann, Michael (2 March 2018). "Gwenno: Le Kov review – Cornish identity in full-colour psychedelia". the Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  19. ↑ "AIM Independent Music Awards 2018 Nominees Announced | Proper Music Group".
  20. ↑ "Manic Street Preachers, Gruff Rhys and Gwenno up for 2018 Welsh music prize". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  21. ↑ "The 50 best albums of 2018". www.theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  22. ↑ "MOJO's Top 75 Albums of 2018". www.mojo4music.com. MOJO. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  23. ↑ "70 Best Albums of 2018". www.popmatters.com. PopMatters. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  24. ↑ "Albums of the Year 2018". thequietus.com. PopMatters. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  25. ↑ "Top 100 Albums of the year 2018". www.roughtrade.com. Rough Trade. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  26. ↑ "Uncut's Top 50 Albums of 2018". www.uncut.co.uk. Uncut. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
  27. ↑ "Top 100 Albums of 2018". www.undertheradarmag.com. Under the Radar. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  28. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 26 March 2018.
  29. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
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