Bill Ryder-Jones often finds inspiration in the landscape of West Kirby, a seaside town west of Liverpool, with its horizon set in North Wales.
This is where he has his studio, where he composes the records he has been releasing solo since 2011 – a handful of editions where he swings between orchestral albums and more intimate songs.
His latest album, Iechyd Da – a Welsh expression for ‘Cheers’, used before a toast – is his most elaborate production to date and also his most optimistic – even if melancholy remains underlying all the disc’s themes, as if agony and ecstasy were inseparable.