Stephen Price
Rhodri Daniel, who first gained acclaim as a founding member of Estrons, has released a new single from his latest music project, Heddlu, following a traumatic period of hearing loss.
Estrons had a major impact on the industry having gained rave reviews from the likes of NME, Vice, DIY and Clash to BBC Radio, Radio X, Ultimate Guitar, The Guardian and Independent.
After finishing the band in 2019, Rhodri became aware that his hearing was severely damaged.
Years of touring the live circuit had taken their toll, Rhodri ultimately being diagnosed with hearing loss, tinnitus and severe sensitivity to noise.
The effects were so acute, Rhodri was unable to play live music, leading to him composing his critically acclaimed debut album (Cantref, 2022) in his head whilst completing the entirety of the Wales Coastal Path (900 miles).
His family and namely his sister, were great sources of comfort and hope during this difficult period. Serendipity led Rhodri back to music, and heddlu was born. Meaning ‘Police’ in Welsh, from the words ‘peace-force’, heddlu’s music has been true to its’ name, offering a force of peace to the songwriter.
Rhodri spent the next few years writing and experimenting with new sounds and instruments as his hearing slowly recovered.
Whilst writing and recording his 2nd album, life found a way of both disrupting and influencing the creative process, leading to multiple re-writes and an entire album being erased.
Eventually, despite the interruptions, Heddlu’s second album, ‘Tramor’ – was completed.
Tramor
Meaning ‘Overseas’ in Welsh, ‘Tramor’ is series of intimate and volatile songs, detailing years of loss, estrangement, trauma and hope.
Cut The Rope, the third single from ‘Tramor’, is a raw, emotional plea by the singer for someone they love to walk away, to save themselves.
It’s about recognising your own damage and not wanting to drag someone else down with you. Stark, honest, and unfiltered, the song captures the painful truth that sometimes love means stepping away.
Discussing Tramor, Heddlu told Nation Cymru: “The song was unusual for me, in the sense that the riff repeats itself throughout, whereas I usually like to have different sections, starting and ending in different places.
“But for this one, it felt more natural to have the lyrics become the journey, over the song’s structure, with the verses becoming increasingly emotive throughout the track.
“I wrote it to someone who was leaving my life, as a sort of lament-full goodbye, which again was quite unusual for me to write something so personal and emotional, but it felt right for the riff which felt sad and hopeful at the same time.”
Recovery
As excitement for the new album builds, he said: “My second album ‘Tramor’ is due to be released on 21 August which is great.
“I worked on it for over a year and I’m glad it’s finally getting released after life got in the way a few times, I don’t usually like the records I make, but I kind of like this one, at LEAST an 8/10 (and that’s coming from a guy who has put out some 5s in his time).”
Sadly, the impact on his hearing has meant touring is off for the time being. He shared: “Unfortunately, due to years of touring with my previous band, Estrons, I still have somewhat damaged hearing, it is slowly getting better, and I am coming round to the idea of performing live again.
“But recovery isn’t linear, and hearing damage is usually permanent.
“My first two albums are so expansive and dense that I wouldn’t really know how to play them live… But I’m starting to come back to my roots and write live, room shaking guitar tracks again, so I think my third album will be more live, aggressive, fun, and will surely need to be performed live, so keep an eye out.”
Modesty is a given with Rhodri Daniel, and if Cut the Rope and his most recent singles are anything to go by, the album calls for tens across the board.
Tramor will be released 21 August 2025.
Find from Heddlu via his online channels:
https://www.instagram.com/heddlu.music/?hl=en
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Eu5ysMXfdb9WJYObbxnYj
https://www.facebook.com/heddlu.music/
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source nation.cymru ’
