Brieg Guerveno

BRITTANY | 2021 PARTICIPANT

A misty brand of folk music, sunny strings and a compelling voice, this is how Brieg Guerveno weaves his tunes, sung in Breton, a language brimming with a passion both eerie and low-keyed. We hear ballads bearing the marks of somber heroism as well as dark jingles aimed at the heart. This Breton singer chisels his folk music inspired by the proud pioneers of this genre, to wit Ulver and Sigur Rós, and the listener feels like he is wrapped around his musings in the heart of winter, gazing at the path left behind and looking towards the future.

Metamorphosis. It took Brieg Guerveno four records to get rid of the angry rock turmoil of his past. Four records that were necessary, a kind of chrysalis enabling him to reveal himself at last. This is Vel Ma Vin, showing us a new Brieg, more into folk music than ever, without frills, and last but not least, more profound than before.

The somber ballads and their subtle string arrangements make a whole, worthy of the winding introspective paths of a pacified Ulver, a twilight Sigur Rós, bringing to life the vocal harmonies of Anathema’s first records in the nineties. Like all of Brieg’s records, all the tunes are sung in Breton, and Vel