CARWYN ELLIS & RIO 18 - Haf

“Haf” isn't simply the natural follow-up to the previous album “Fontana Rosa” (released only on vinyl and now included in the CD version of the new record): Carwyn Ellis further broadens his sonic spectrum, for a project that brings together all the pieces of an artistic evolution that finally seems to have reached the right expressive maturity.

Ellis dedicates the album to his late music teacher, Haf Morris, while the cover artwork was created during the Rio carnival; for the final mix of the album (with numerous producers involved in the project), he brought in the renowned producer Kassin, who played a key role in the Welsh composer's musical turning point.

The fusion of psychedelia, Latin American music, soul and yacht-pop is decidedly sharper this time: “Haf” is like a perfectly interlocking puzzle in which Carwyn Ellis fearlessly namechecks his passions and sources of inspiration.

For the irresistible “Gwenyn Y Gwanwyn” the artist brings together the duo Antônio Carlos & Jocáfi with a rap verse from Marcelo D2; meanwhile it's the Brazilian funk–soul of Cassiano at the heart of the vibrant “Tonnau Ar Tonnau”: not only is the title an explicit nod to a Cassiano hit (“Onda”, meaning Ton in Welsh), but the track also features the bassist who played on the original version, Paulo Cesar Barros.

In this joyous string of references and tributes to Latin American tradition, the artist moves from elegant Lalo Schifrin-style arrangements (the horn section on the gorgeous bossa nova of “Bella Estrella”) to Burt Bacharach-style romanticism, as on the title track.

The poppier side of things instead peeks through on the exotic Kid Creole-style dance-pop of “Como Te Amo” and on the refined psych-soul of the sensual “Shades Of Red”, featuring Nina Miranda (Smoke City).

Alongside his established love of Brazilian music and bossa nova (“Whistling Sands”), Ellis's new album also draws on vibrations from Cuban and Panamanian music (Ruben Blades is another idol of the Welshman's), and it's in this light that we should read the two most introverted, melancholy pieces on “Haf”: the delicate “Nos Da”, which closes the album, and the gorgeous ballad “Lágrimas Frías”, another precious piece of a record that, in these gloomy days, feels like a ray of spring sunshine.