We all need to escape from time to time, physically, mentally, spiritually. Listening to Rhodri Davies’ latest and eighth album allows just that, and I fully recommend a listen to drag you out of your aural comfort zone, and challenge you a bit. That’s not to say that this is hard work, on the contrary, these tracks are quite meditative. Yes he is a harpist, but a twee, pretty and traditional affair this is not. On Telyn Wrachïod, Davies ditches his usual guitar pedals and instead plays his harp in the 16th-century style, with wooden pegs (brays) fixed to the harp, making it buzz. He takes his inspiration from medieval pieces and harps, and improvises and experiments with distortion, tunings and possibilities of the instrument, resulting in 12 concise pieces, reminiscent of Phillip Glass at times. His harp can sound like the kora or crwth, proudly showing us the versatility of this ancient and worldly instrument. On Relics of the Horsehair Harp, Davies invites his favourite musicians to respond to his 2020 Album Telyn Rawn. On each of the 18 pieces, you get a flavour of the musician involved, but they have fallen under Davies’ spell, never taking the tune where you think it might go. There’s a Japanese mouth organ, a marimba, Scottish smallpipes and a banjo among other instruments, and you are taken all over the world, and in and out of different worlds. From Richard Dawson’s garden and Phil Tyler’s kitchen to the steam train of Stevie Wishart’s hurdy-gurdy, you are constantly transported. As if to thank the harp for being his time-travelling medium, the album ends with ‘Morluniau o fy Ffenest’ by the legendary harpist Llio Rhydderch, bringing us back home safe and sound. What a journey Rhodri takes us on.