HMS MORRIS are a rather fine art-rock collective operating out of the Welsh capital; the project of former Emmy the Great bassist Heledd Watkins, they’ve since developed a whole ethos, aesthetic, sweetly harmonious life of their own.
Following the release of two pre-covid era singles, “Babanod” and “Poetry”, they’ve dusted off the rime of lockdown and have returned with new single “Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol”, which is out now.
You can take a butcher’s on our YouTube embed at the end. It’s rather fine and sophisticated pop, with a metronomic and pulsing groove and plenty of space in the chorus for the rising melodies of Heledd’s voice; it’s pop like it used to be, not afraid to bring artpop edges, didacticism, mystery and styling to the party; pop frankly, as it should be.
The title, for those non-Welsh speakers among us? It translates as ‘International Students’.
The band say of the track: “HMS Morris HQ is nestled on the edge of one of the most multicultural streets in Cardiff, City Road. It’s a noisy, colourful cosmopolitan crush of restaurants, shisha bars and barbers, which have recently been invaded by posh student accommodation projects.
“But while this may have been the initial impetus behind ‘Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol’, by the time it had solidified into a definite sound and feel it was no longer a rant about fancy student halls. Rather it had become an assertion that the world be a better place if we were all International Students.
“In the context of this summer’s global race-relations reckoning, there is a general moral imperative for us all to become students of the international: to watch the news as if it’s our own story, to actually take it in, to learn and adapt our behaviour.
“We should be prepared to immerse ourselves in other cultures, just like the international students of City Road do.”
“Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol” is available to stream or purchase digitally from all the usual platforms.
Like the cut of the HMS Morris jib? Take their shilling and join them on the fo’c’sle on Facebook, in the Twittersphere, and on Instagram.
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