Introducing Barefoot Dance Of The Sea
There's been a host of great Welsh albums released this year already: , Meilyr Jones and Euros Childs' , , , ... and so the list goes on.
Another to add to the pile is Beneath Closed Eyes, the eagerly anticipated debut from three-part harmony group .
Barefoot Dance Of The Sea
With honest, real life songs, and signature intricate harmonies, it's a beautiful listen from start to finish. It's a celebration of the distinctive voices of Rebecca Wood, Elizabeth Whelan and Sophie Cochrane. I've been a fan for a while, and seen them perform live many times, so it was a great chance to speak to the band to find out a bit more about putting the record together.
What have you all been up to? I know your lives go in many different directions now.
"We've been busy preparing the next generation of Barefoot Dance of the Sea - both Bec and Beth are pregnant! We've been gigging, had our album launch and a couple of great gigs at the Wales Millennium Centre and planning collaborations with Andy Regan and Ivan Moult and Will from Little Arrow."
Do you feel like you are evolving as a group?
"Yes! Definitely. It started from the ashes of The Hot Puppies as we didn't want to stop playing and we'd always enjoyed our singalongs we'd have as a pre-gig warm up, so we carried on from there. Soph joined us and the covers slowly got replaced by our own songs. That's when we properly became Barefoot Dance Of The Sea.
"We've changed a lot over the years, being more harmony-based around simple accompaniments and developing our own style and sound. We've also grown more confident in our songwriting and are proud that each of us have provided songs for the album, which means its a very personal record."
Are there stories behind the songs that you could tell me about?
"And there's another about Bec's husband building a house for their family. Another true story!"
Have you played some interesting gigs recently?
"We played at The Small World Theatre in Cardigan which is an amazing venue. A wooden roundhouse-type building - really high ceiling, ideal for our kind of music and a lovely audience and organisers. Would definitely recommend going!"
Your melodies, harmonies, and a capella numbers are such unique things to do. What made you go in this direction after The Hot Puppies?
"It seemed to be a natural progression for us: Bec had her first baby and our quiet harmonies/folky sound was much more suited to entertaining baby Amber. As we're all singers it comes naturally to concentrate on our voices with any accompaniment coming second."
What's coming up for you over the summer?
"A bit of a break for babies, then back to making more music. We have lots of collaborations planned and already have quite a lot of new material, so more recording for album number two. And, of course, more live dates to be announced soon!"
Any download treats available for our readers?
"Free downloads from our record label here: ."
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