The sun rises over the pastoral Melin village. Six workers ascend a hill, towards the magical mill where the music that the villagers so dearly love gets made. Edvard Grieg’s ‘Morning Mood’ is playing, and all is well in the world. But when the millers arrive, disaster strikes. “A landlord from a nearby city wants to knock down the mill and build a car park,” Melin Melyn frontman and founder Gruff Glyn tells NME. “But by doing that, it would rid the land of music!”
Welcome to the wonderful world of Melin Melyn. Since forming in 2019, the absurdist Welsh psych-rockers have constructed a delightful fictional universe that speaks to some very real contemporary concerns. Now, the band are documenting the problems facing the mill on their debut album, ‘Mill On The Hill’.
Many other musical mills, across the land, are also under threat, something Melin Melyn (‘yellow mill’ in Welsh) are all too aware of given recent venue closures in Cardiff. “When I was younger, Cardiff had Toucan, Four Bars, Dempseys and Gwdihŵ,” Glyn recalls of the now-defunct venues. “It’s devastating. Arena and stadium shows still sell very well. But without grassroots venues, it would all come tumbling down.”
Melin Melyn’s debut is both a sharp riposte to this epidemic of venue closures and an upbeat and colourful 45 minutes of musical escapism. These 12 tracks are vividly realised via the band’s ornate blend of psych, country and art rock and story-driven lyrics, to such a degree that you can practically see the mill and inter-song narratives forming before your eyes. Glyn talks about “writing visually”, even going as far as saying that, while doing so, he often “sees the music video [he’d] like to create.”
The playful Melin Melyn take the visual aspect of their work very seriously. A theatrical live show utilising costumes, props and guest appearances is as integral to the six-piece as their elaborate music and absurdist humour. According to bassist Garmon Rhys, “when you go to a theatre show, you start in one place and are moved to another. We want people to come to our shows and leave changed. Be it with a newfound appreciation for mills or for eccentric Welsh psychedelia.”
The band’s 2023 headline tour saw Melin Melyn perform as staff members of ‘Jolly Baskets Supermarket Store’, with each member costumed according to a different job title. Of course, this shop is also located within Melin village. “We couldn’t balance both jobs,” Glyn deadpans. “We’re fortunate to now be able to work full-time at the mill.” As always, and influenced by several members’ “theatrical backgrounds,” a sharp, imaginative metaphor underpins the whimsy. “The Jolly Basket represents creatives having to work jobs in between what you’re good at and love doing,” Glyn clarifies. “I’ve worked countless in-between jobs and still do.” Fortunately, the store is still serving the inhabitants of Melin village; “we all got fired, but the store is still functioning without us,” Garmon clarifies.
“The Welsh are very imaginative people. We have so much history: Arthurian legends, the Rebecca and Merthyr Riots… inspiring, powerful stories” – Gruff Glyn
Along with these locations, several fictional characters populate the Melin Melyn-verse, including Henk, creator of the Mill. “He’s our idol and we’ve kept him alive via a machine in the mill that we hope to take on tour with us,” says Glyn. Then there’s the enigmatic Doctor Sausage; a bearded trickster that frequently appears on stage with the band. Are they another denizen of Melin village? Glyn shakes his head: “Doctor Sausage appears whenever he wants. We never expect it, we know nothing about him – he just simply appears.”
This gleeful absurdity might lack substance if it were not for Melin Melyn’s majestic songwriting flair. ‘Mill On The Hill’ is arranged quite brilliantly; a series of isolated narratives and a reprise that “represents the millers working behind the scenes to craft the songs you’re hearing,” according to Glyn. For all the silly magic of their earlier releases, highlighted by standalone tracks like ‘I Paint Dogs’ and the ‘Blomonj’ EP, this is the first time the band have been able to unleash their imaginations across a complete musical narrative.
Melin Melyn’s imaginations are a thing to behold. How do they go about honing their wild ideas into a cohesive body of work? “Gruff and I write separately,” answers Rhys. “Gruff wrote the bulk of the album and I wrote a bunch of songs. We then present those ideas to the rest of the band and let them Melin Melyn-ise them.” Take, for instance, ‘Promised Land’, a tale of a ballet dancer trying to dance her way out of poverty, while ‘Vitamin D’ is about a man who falls in love with a character in a video game… “but it’s actually about computer addiction,” Glyn explains. “He never goes outside and so never gets any vitamin D.”
Beyond the Welsh musical talent in their ranks, something even more deeply Welsh courses through Melin Melyn. Their wise, colourful whimsy slots neatly into the nation’s psychedelic rock lineage: Glyn himself cites the likes of Super Furry Animals, Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci and the ‘Welsh Rare Beat’ compilations of seventies psych rock as influences. Beyond these musical inspirations, he recalls being read the Welsh folk narrative The Mabinogion at a young age, with its “amazing stories and wild imagination” and also mentions the Welsh-language rock opera ‘Nia Ben Aur’ as broader influences on his band’s psychedelic vision.
“I think the Welsh are very imaginative people,” he opines. “We have so much history: Arthurian legends, uprisings, rulers knocked down by the English, the Rebecca Riots, the Merthyr Riots… inspiring, powerful stories.”
Melin Melyn’s imagination, intelligence and accessible musical vision are emblematic of everything great about their home nation’s music culture. Welsh music is having a bit of a moment right now; Adwaith’s latest album has been globally embraced, whilst Huw Stephens’ 6 Music show has corralled national support for the scene. Melin Melyn are riding alongside them on this red wave, fighting the good fight with trademark flair and humour.
“We urge anyone to show their solidarity with the plight of the mill by attending a Melin Melyn show,” is Glyn’s humble request. “That way the landlord can see how important it is and leave us alone!”
Melin Melyn’s album ‘Mill On The Hill’ is out now. The band tour the UK from March to May