Hen Ogledd
Though their name means ‘Old North’, the collective’s music is refreshingly new.
“Everything feels completely fucked. Creativity and communality are the only hope we’ve got.”
Hen Ogledd have never behaved like a conventional band, and they’re perfectly comfortable with that. There are no fixed rehearsal schedules, no stockpiled songs waiting for release, and no singular creative centre. Instead, the quartet of bassist Rhodri Davies, singer-guitarist Richard Dawson, Dawn Bothwell (vocals and electronics) and singer Sally Pilkington operate in what Dawson calls “grab moments”, those brief windows where life allows them to come together, improvise and see what sticks.
“We never really planned it as a group,” Dawson explains. “When Rhodri and I first worked together, it didn’t even work. We left it for a couple of years.” That early false start eventually gave way to a series of improvised duets, a live invitation, and the slow realisation that something distinctive was forming. “It just became one,” Dawson smiles.
For Davies, the band’s formation was inseparable from personal upheaval. “I moved to Newcastle, met Richard, and my life changed considerably for the better,” he says. “When Dawn joined it improved, and when Sally joined it improved again. Suddenly we were four, and it felt complete.” Bothwell’s arrival shifted the project decisively away from noise and free improvisation into stranger, more textured territory. Early recordings at the Star and Shadow Cinema – a stripped-back former cinema space – leaned heavily into atmosphere. “You can hear the building,” she recalls. “Echo, loops, percussive sounds. It felt like being inside a vivid memory that turns into a dream. Or a nightmare.”
Pilkington’s contribution brought propulsion and shape. “I think it became more structured without losing the sprawl,” she says. “There were still improvised sections, but also these rhythmic ideas that helped the music move forward.” That balance between freedom and form remains central to Hen Ogledd’s identity.
Geography and circumstance have shaped their process as much as aesthetics. Spread across the UK, and juggling families and parallel projects, the band works in compressed bursts. “We come together, improvise a lot, and then wrestle it into shape afterwards,” Dawson explains. “It’s completely backwards musically, but it makes sense for our lives.” Bothwell agrees: “The constraints shape the method. Improvisation is where the energy comes from for us.”
That method reaches its conclusion on their third album 'DISCOMBOBULATED', which is built from a number of approaches. “Some tracks are very fixed, some almost completely free,” says Dawson. “You approach each one according to its spirit.” The album’s themes of community, fracture and solidarity were established early. “We usually have ideas before any words are written,” Pilkington notes. “It’s like a dialogue,” adds Bothwell. “Out of that, a narrative appears.”
The album’s inclusivity extends beyond the core four. Contributions from drummer Will Guthrie and a wide circle of friends and family – including children’s voices – add character and humanity. “We wanted it to feel welcoming,” Davies explains. “That people feel part of something wider.” For Bothwell, the stakes are emotional as well as artistic. “Everything feels completely fucked,” she states. “But creativity and communality are the only hope we’ve got.” In a fractured world, Hen Ogledd’s collective resistance feels not just progressive, but necessary.
-Julian Marszalek
LINE-UP: Richard Dawson (vocals, guitar), Rhodri Davies (bass), Dawn Bothwell (vocals, electronics), Sally Pilkington (vocals)
SOUNDS LIKE: A potent and intoxicating blend of prog, electronics, folk and pop
CURRENT RELEASE:'DISCOMBOBULATED' is out on February 20 via Weird World
WEBSITE: www.henogledd.com HOME - Hen Ogledd