Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18 release globe-trotting new album ‘Haf’
Welsh artist Carwyn Ellis and his multicultural collective Rio 18 present their new album Haf, a warm, globe-trotting celebration of music that journeys through samba, salsa, Andean balladry, latin soul, tropical funk and sun-soaked grooves, sung in Welsh, English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Haf is the third album from Carwyn Ellis & Rio 18 in little over a year, no mean feat in and of itself but especially considering Carwyn’s work with Edwyn Collins and the North Mississippi Allstars this year too! The album picks up where their previous, Fontana Rosa, left off, with around half the album being recorded analog to tape at Gizzard Studios in London, with one last tune remaining from their sessions at the legendary (but now closed) Toerag Studios.
There are echoes here of their first album, Joia! – the recordings were once again instigated by the great Brazilian producer and multi-instrumentalist Kassin who happened to be visiting London earlier in the year. He suggested doing something…. so they did. And there is a return to more definite Brazilian influences too – “Tonnau Ar Tonnau” is an homage to “Onda” by Cassiano, “Keep On Smiling” has a distinct samba / choro feel. “Gwenyn y Gwanwyn” (about helping a bee out if you see it struggling) is very much a nod to the psychedelic samba funk of Antonio Carlos e Jocafi. But other Latin styles still loom large: on the sultry salsa of “Bella Estrella” or the melancholic Andean ballad, “Lagrimas Frias”.
Anglo-Brazilian singer Nina Miranda features on the Lalo Schifrin goes samba “Shades of Red“, while new addition to the Rio 18 family (at least on record), Miriam Isaac adds a real RnB edge to the album, along with somebeautiful duets: the Salsoul banger “Como Te Amo” and the gorgeous “Whistling Sands” (about a beach in North Wales) are standouts.
Finally, the title track “Haf” and the album itself, are dedicated to Haf Morris, Carwyn’s late music teacher at Ysgol Syr Thomas Jones, Amlwch – he says, “her focus, guidance and patience shaped me like no other. I hope she’s enjoyed my musical journey, from wherever she’s watching. Diolch, Haf”..
‘Haf’ out on LP / 2CD / Digitally on Feb. 6th 2026 via Bubblewrap Collective
