Bill Ryder-Jones review, Rough Trade East: 'Love and melancholy' from Iechyd Da - setlist

The record's reception (a Mercury prize nomination is surely on the cards) was clearly a pleasant surprise for a songwriter who has always poured his heart into his work. Iechyd Da is the fifth new album-proper from the former Coral guitarist and is as touched by melancholy as the best of his work.

Singles This Can’t Go On and If Tomorrow Starts Without Me carry the mix of sorry and hope that bands like The Flaming Lips deliver at their best. But while Wayne Coyne’s expression is rooted in a cosmic hippiedom, Ryder-Jones deals in something more directly personal, rooted in north-west England and Wales ('Iechyd Da' is Welsh for ‘good health’).

The sold-out Shoreditch record store gig saw Bill take to the stage with only guitar, tunes and personality - more than enough.

It’s a short show before an album signing, with a set drawn almost entirely from the new album, beginning with A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart, Part 3, itself a reference to his 2013 album. 

On record it’s a big sound driven by piano, showcasing Bill's growing production prowess. On stage, solo, Bill’s plaintive voice takes the lead, and it’s equally beautiful.

“So you're lonely then? Guess that's when I hear from you. Seems you're a user, too.”

The blurring of drugs and love continues on I Hold Something In My Hand (“I should really leave you. God, I really need to”), and the words are clearly those of someone who has had plenty to wrestle with.

Bill’s tangles with his mental health are well documented, and it is something he is not afraid to reference. The reception for the album has clearly blown him away, “but I still hate myself…and you,” he jokes. 

This Can’t Go On and If Tomorrow Starts Without Me sound immediately classic without being purely derivative - although he does joke before the gorgeous Thankfully For Anthony that “regrettably, it does sound like the whole of Mercury Rev’s Deserter’s Songs”. That album is another good touchpoint for Iechyd Da - no bad thing.

While the songs wrestle with difficult themes ("There's a ghost, you know, pulls on my strings, leads my hands towards the sharper things" - Christinha), the melodies are not lost to misery, and Bill returns time and again to love (including on a touching Don't Be Scared, I Love You, from 2018's Yawn).

And a Bill Ryder-Jones gig is carried by a charisma to match the tunes. He jokes with the audience between and during songs, creating a direction connection. While the singer is perhaps unsure how to sign off, an audience member pipes up: “Thank you, Bill.”

Bill Ryder-Jones returns to London for a full show on Wednesday March 20 at Islington Assembly Hall. Tickets are available now through Dice.

Iechyd Da is out now on Domino.

Bill Ryder-Jones, Rough Trade East, setlist

• A Bad Wind Blows In My Heart, Part 3
• I Hold Something In My Hand
• Christinha
• This Can't Go On
• If Tomorrow Starts Without Me
• Don't Be Scared, I Love You
• I Know That It's Like This (Baby)
• Thankfully For Anthony