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Review: Melin Melyn, Strange Brew – ‘Off-kilter and ambitious’
There’s a mill on the hill, a yellow one to be precise, and sadly it’s going to meet a premature end thanks to a thoughtless landlord who does not care about the mill and its millers.
This is the plot of Welsh band Melin Melyn’s album and subsequent tour of that album. It’s daft and silly, but funny and truthful.
See this mill is no typical mill, and its millers no typical millers. This is a mill that produces music. And just like other buildings that produce music, it’s in danger.
While Melin Melyn’s frontman Gruff Glyn has his tongue permanently in his cheek, the gig’s themes can’t help but leave the audience something to ponder on their way back to their homes.
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Music venues have been closing with too much regularity and many more are in danger of their doors closing permanently.
With the fictitious landlord aiming to replace the mill and its pastoral environs with a car park, Joni Mitchell’s mantra “They paved paradise, put down a parking lot” from Big Yellow Taxi is evoked and the scene is set for the evening’s thought provoking entertainment.
The psychedelic country sextet begin with the titular, melodic track Mill on the Hill, and follow it with a recent single, a groovy, thoughtful tune about a computer game addict and his girlfriend, Vitamin D.
It sets the mood, settling you in for a night of calming, harmonious fun.
Noticeable is the stage presence of Glyn, who never raises his voice but controls the room with his dry wit and dulcet South Walian tones.
It’s remarkable really, his slight figure doesn’t take up much space, but his presence is massive – his acting school credentials doing some heavy lifting, I imagine.
We transition into two of the best tracks from their new and debut album, Promised Land and Fantastic Food.
Promised Land is a sad number, pining for a promised land that may never exist and Fantastic Food finishes the first quarter with a fabulously slow but catchy denouement that really utilises the band’s six members and their instruments – guitar (acoustic, electric and pedal steel), drums, bass, and keys.
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Towards the middle the band bring out some of their fun Welsh-language songs, great to hear across the border.
The highlight of these is 18-30, which is reminiscent of traditional Welsh songs and got me in the feels, and isn’t a million miles away from Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, the Welsh national anthem.
The third quarter sags a little, a problem with front loading some of their more popular songs.
However, Glyn is often interrupting with off-beat remarks, updates on the mill’s situation, and talking to a Dutch speaking doll called Henk. This really makes the gig one to remember.
The irresistible and riff heavy The Pigeon & The Golden Egg, and full country track Running on MT feature in the last quarter, leaving us with a proper spring in the step when exiting Strange Brew.
The storytelling element of their performance warms you to Melin Melyn instantly and makes you ache for their contemporaries to do something this off-kilter and ambitious.
Come for the catchy Welsh psychedelia, stay for the jeopardy of the mill and its millers.
All images: Harri Knight Davis
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