Hen Ogledd’s third album ‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ is out now via Weird World, and the critical response has been immediate and emphatic. Uncut gave it 9/10 and called it “a truly singular record.” Mojo awarded 4 stars. The Quietus declared the quartet makes “music that is quite literally beyond compare.” Wire calls it “the greatest musical and lyrical realisation yet of their diverse strengths.” For a band that has always operated at the outer edge of what folk, drone, and experimental music can do together, ‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ represents a genuine peak.
The album arrives alongside “End of the rhythm,” a new track and video directed by James Hankins, inspired by early 90s rave visuals and 3D computer animation of that era. The song evokes a chaotic dance capable of transcending enclosure and moving toward rapture, release, and healing, anchored by Dawn Bothwell’s declaration that “They want us to fail, but workers can win.” It’s a fitting entry point into a record that balances political fury with warmth and accessibility in equal measure.
Hen Ogledd, the collaborative project of Dawn Bothwell, Rhodri Davies, Richard Dawson, and Sally Pilkington, has been coalescing since Davies and Dawson began working together in 2013, with the full quartet coming together ahead of 2018’s debut ‘Mogic.’ ‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ is their most emotionally charged record yet, moving through political tumult, personal crisis, and mental wellbeing with the complex, moving intelligence the band has made their signature. By turns emphatic and vulnerable, joyous and furious, it’s also their most accessible.
The album is available on DomMart-exclusive pink vinyl with signed art print, standard vinyl, CD, and digitally.
The most extraordinary event attached to this release is still ahead. On June 6th, Hen Ogledd will perform DISCOMBODURATION, an 8-hour sound ritual at The Horse Hospital in London, running from 2pm to 10pm. The extended un-concert splinters ‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ through prisms of drone, improvisation, dance, kinetic sculpture, dream-pop, and what the band describes as “horrible stuff, coo-ing and large blasts.” Artist Rachael MacArthur brings costume and a life-size pop-up book set to create a psychogenic fantasy episodic landscape across each stage of the performance. Audiences can attend for the full 8 hours or drop in at their own peril. RSVP is open now.
‘DISCOMBOBULATED’ is out now via Weird World. DISCOMBODURATION takes place June 6th at The Horse Hospital, London.