Nell Arden
Welsh songwriter · four albums on Broken Tide
New album · out 18 April 2026

Thorn & Honey

Fourth studio album · 11 tracks · 47 min · Broken Tide BT/034

Written over two winters in Abergavenny and recorded at Giant Wafer in mid-Wales. Eleven songs about the long-windedness of Welsh weather and the family kitchen I grew up in. A vibraphone is used on almost every track and I am not sorry.

Eleven tracks.

Each title links to a short essay by me on what the song is and why it wouldn't leave me alone.

01
Pentredŵropener · about a village that no longer exists
3:48
02
The kitchen lightfamily piece · in D
4:12
03
Thorn & Honeytitle track · with vibraphone
4:28
04
Welsh weatherinstrumental · in three parts
6:11
05
Aunt Moira's recipestory-song · 6/8
5:02
06
A letter I did not sendfingerpicked · Ab
3:21
07
The radio on Sundaysharpsichord loop · half-tempo
4:40
08
Hiraeth, brieflya minute and a quarter
1:24
09
Afon Conwynamed for the river · recorded outdoors
5:19
10
What my mother meantclosing vocal · capo on 3
4:48
11
Pentredŵr (reprise)coda · D major
3:38

Four studio albums, plus.

All four on Broken Tide, pressed on vinyl and cassette, available direct from the label shop.

Playing live, this year.

Small rooms by preference. Six of the ten dates below are trio; the others are solo piano & voice.

04 May Mon · 2026
St Giles-in-the-FieldsRecord release show
trio · with Okonkwo (DJ)
On sale
17 May Sun · 2026
Lantern Theatre, SheffieldSheffield & Sound festival
solo piano & voice
On sale
29 May Fri · 2026
Galeri Caernarfonhomecoming show
trio · with Maeve Rosenhart
Sold out
21 Jun Sat · 2026
End of the Road festivalLarmer Tree Gardens
trio · Talking Heads stage
Festival
11 Jul Sat · 2026
Milk Factory, BerlinEuropean mini-tour, 1/3
solo piano & voice
On sale
13 Jul Mon · 2026
Het Concertgebouw, AmsterdamSmall hall
solo piano & voice
On sale
16 Jul Thu · 2026
Botanique, BrusselsOrangerie
solo piano & voice
Waitlist
14 Sep Mon · 2026
Kings Place, LondonHall Two, in the round
trio · with Kieran Vale
On sale

The Kitchen Light — the lyrics, with notes.

Every lyric from the first three albums, in full, with short essays on twenty-two of them. Eighty-four pages. Out with Seren Books in Wales, October 2026.

I'm not a poet and I don't want to pretend the lyrics stand on their own as poems; they don't. The book is a record of where they came from.

Seren Books · October 2026 · 84 pp. · paperback · £14

Three letters a year.

One letter when a new record is coming; one when tour dates are announced; one at the end of the year with what I've been listening to. That is it, for most years. Unsubscribe is one click.