Double The Fun This Xmas!
The album ‘Ignuntology’ has already spawned the singles ‘Fat Welsh Weirdo’, ‘Art of Seduction’, ‘Stronger’ and ‘No Dragon’ and this Christmas see’s the simultaneous release of singles 5 and 6 in the shape of ‘Taffys Theme’ and ’98 Chepstow Road’. Originally intended to be a double-A side release, it turns out that isn’t a concept that translates easily to the digital domain, where a single has to carry one or the other title, but not both. So for the completists out there, the only difference to the album version is that ‘Taffys Theme’ doesn’t have the long ‘classroom’ intro. Both singles will be released on Tuesday 13th December, with promo videos to follow…
To newcomers – welcome – ‘Taffys Theme’ is a somewhat angry reaction to the old nursery rhyme ‘Taffy was a Welshman’ which for some bizarre reason hasn’t been struck from books of nursery rhymes, despite being clearly anti-Welsh. Anyway, this track punctuates the violent imagery with some history that simply isn’t well known enough, a callout of several ‘celebrities’ who have made anti-Welsh statements and a hope for the future, tempered with a pang of resignation. When I started writing this, I admit I didn’t know the levels of discrimination there had been throughout history and reading extensively into the subject, I went from being neither here nor there on the subject of independence to being staunchly in favour. Or at least of the mind that we owe it to ourselves to explore the feasibility. The anger is real…… What I will say is that my truck isn’t with English people – it’s not their fault, but with the English government and the monarchy, and the problems haven’t stopped….
The other release ’98 Chepstow Road’ is more straightforward. My grandparents lived at this address in Newport for most of their life and it was the house my dad was raised in and the house I would visit for school holidays whilst growing up the other side of the border. Spending so much time as a youth in this home, during a time when people didn’t bat an eyelid with an 12 year old wandering the streets and taking buses into the (then) town centre, cemented very fond memories of not just 98 and Maindee, but Newport as a whole. After they moved to Caerleon and years later passed away, I still get misty eyed thinking about the City and so this song is part cheeky reminiscing about 98 itself, the memories of the city and my grandparents and some sadness at some of the changes that have taken place. As I say, this is about the closest I come to a love song….