Hawdd Fel Dydd Llun, which is out now, is an unreleased song written in 1996 that never made it to a release, if I remember right, because Dave took a step back from music to deal with his mental health. It’s now going to be part of a retrospective release celebrating 40 years since Datblygu began: 60 tracks, imagine that! It wasn’t intended to be a post-mortem release of course, but now, hopefully it is a celebration of Dave’s writing, the work Dave and Pat did, their understanding over their music, and the depths of poetry and manifestos Dave wrote out.
Datblygu were so influential on the nascent alternative and independent scene of the 90s in Wales: bands like Super Furry Animals, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, Catatonia, wouldn’t have existed if not for the groundwork Dave and Pat laid down in the 80s, the ability to be modern in sound, Welsh in writing and subject, and not always in praise. Real.
The compilation, called Terfysgiaith 1982-2022, is out in Ankst Musik.