In the years since Catatonia stormed the charts, lead singer and frontwoman Cerys Matthews has turned her attention to all sorts of creative endeavours. With the titles of radio DJ, author, TV presented, festival organiser, musician, singer, and not forgetting an MBE, to her name, Matthews clearly has plenty of passions and interests to pursue. But with her latest project – a twelve track album titled We Come From The Sun – Matthews is embracing a medium with which she has long been fascinated: poetry.

We Come From The Sun sees ten UK poets (MA. MOYO, Raymond Antrobus, Lemn Sissay, Cia Mangat, Anthony Anaxagorou, Kim Moore, Liz Berry, Adam Horovitz, Kayo Chingonyi, and Imtiaz Dharker) read one of their works over a backing track composed to complement the piece by Matthews and Joe Acheson, otherwise known as Hidden Orchestra.

The result is an eclectic and compelling collection. From the simple, sparse piano accompaniment to Antrobus’s tribute to fatherhood, to the industrial effects that score Berry’s exploration of Black Country heritage, to the sonically expansive, synth-heavy backing to MA. MOYO’s ode to feminist power, each musical accompaniment is cleverly crafted to accentuate the given poet’s work. It all adds up to a deeply immersive and intriguing experience.

It’s Flame Lily that was chosen as the album’s lead single, released on National Poetry Day back on 1 October. In a post on her official website, Matthews described the creative process involved with pairing the poem to music. “MA.MOYO came into Abbey Road, went into the vocal booth and started to read Flame Lily and everyone in the control room came to a hush. It was a story that filled the studio and the imagery MA.MOYO created was remarkable.

“It was clear from that moment that it was something special and the music needed to walk alongside MA.MOYO’s rhythm in the poem and it had to have quite strident beats. So that’s what we did, there was no holding back we just went where the poem led us. Flame Lily is so strong and it’s a mobiliser of a poem and that’s why it had to be the first single.”

We Come From The Sun tracklist:

1. Flame Lily by (MA.MOYO)

2. Happy Birthday Moon (by Raymond Antrobus)

3. Adventure Flight (by Lemn Sissay)

4. She Strikes The Ball Like A Match (by Cia Mangat)

5. Once I Had An Acceptance Speech (by Anthony Anaxagorou)

6. And The Soul (by Kim Moore)

7. Connemara (by Liz Berry)

8. A House Built From Cloth (by Adam Horovitz)

9. Loch Long By Ardgartan, Argyll (by Kayo Chingonyi)

10. The Trick (by Imtiaz Dharker)

11. Birmingham Roller (by Lizz Berry)

12. Sometimes You Think Of Bowness (by Kim Moore)

Watch the official lyric video for Flame Lily here.

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.