Tristwch y Fenywod (Welsh for “The Sadness of Women”) are a beguiling gothic avant rock trio, conjured from Leeds’s experimental underground and channeling Welsh mysticism through a sonic ritual; both haunting and cathartic. Their music unfolds in Welsh across a spellbinding combination of dual zither (or dwydelyn a hybrid instrument they built themselves), bass, and electronic drums.
Drawing richly from themes of sapphic love, environmental anguish, Celtic myth, queer enchantment, and pagan mysticism, their songs feel like “black-lit liturgies of bog bodies caked in mud,” entwined with nocturnal landscapes and queer longing Black Circle RecordsThe Guardianlostmusicfestival.com. The trio comprises Gwretsien Ferch Lisbeth (voice, dwydelyn), Leila Lygad (electronic drums), and Sidni Sarffwraig (bass guitar), who formed the group in 2022 following experiences of grief and collective ritual.
Their self titled debut album, released in August 2024 via Night School Records, was recorded at Bradford’s Hohm Studio and mastered by Rashad Becker. Critics have hailed it as a chilling yet luminous fusion of Celtic darkwave, goth, and experimental folk — “like an early 4AD relic dredged from the depths of an Anglesey swamp.” Echoes of Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins, and The Cure drift through its spectral textures, forming a sound that feels both ancient and eerily new.
