The song got 284 streams already since I uploaded it a month ago, with a private link! Thanks so much, everyone! Please keep sharing the song. Lets get the message out there!

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My new single "Retrofit" is out today on all streaming platforms! It was written after a conversation I had in the pub with a coursemate about the seemingly never-ending eco-renovation project that she and her husband were undertaking to improve the energy efficiency of their flat.
 
As you must have noticed if you live in the UK, our housing stock is generally pretty shoddy and inefficient. As well as being wasteful, cold and damp houses seriously effect people's health and quality of life. Also, existing buildings are responsible for about 27% of annual global CO2 emissions (and rising), according to the International Energy Agency (2022). That's due to heating, cooling, lighting, appliances, etc. That percentage goes up to around 37% if you include the emissions due to construction (cement, steel, glass, PIR, transportation, heavy machinery, etc) (UNEP, 2022) (or 42% for the built environment as a whole, according to Architecture2023, 2023).
 
The UK government would save a lot of money elsewhere (most obviously in the NHS) if they would take this problem seriously and invest in the training and resources required to retrofit the UK housing stock (UPDATE: check out the Welsh government's optimised retrofit programme). This seems like a fairly no-brainer way to reduce our CO2 emissions. It’s not simple; it requires time, investment, people, training schemes, sustainably sourced materials and supply chains. There isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ solution, because there are many different housing typologies, so different strategies are appropriate for different building types, and this varies from place to place. But it’s very much achievable, and there’s loads of research showing us how to do it, using environmentally benign materials. We just need investment and regulations to make this happen (that's easy to say in a sweeping statement, but challenging to implement in real life).
 
The track was recorded by Mike West in Our Lady Studio, Borth. and features excellent musicians from Wales, England, Brittany, Nigeria and Nicaragua. Go to your preferred streaming service now to listen to the whole song! This song is the first single from a batch of songs I recorded in Mike West's studio last August with Ffion River Wild, Michael Ekeghasi, Archibald Schwartz Marmaduke, Rolando Bertrand Ruiz, Ben MacCoed and David Spivack. Between us, we speak 8 languages, and we come from 5 countries, and 3 continents. I've got a few more to record after my dissertation. I hope to share the album with you in October!

In other news, next week I'm going to the Pan Celtic Festival with my other band, Lo-fi Jones! Our latest single "Ffwl" will be out on April the 1st, with "Llethrau" to follow, and at EP coming in July.

The video isn't quite ready. As with a retrofit project, its taking longer than I expected.
In the meantime, here's a little "teaser trailer":

[English below]
Haf diwethaf, es i ar y rhaglen cerdded boblogaidd, Am Dro! Cafodd y rhaglen ei ddarlledu wythnos ynôl ar S4C. Roedd o'n bleser i gyfarfod pawb ac i gymryd rhan yn y rhaglen. Cawsom ni teithiau braf a diddorol yn Llangollen, Llyn Ogwen, Machynlleth a Sir Benfro, gyda hanes, natur, cerddoriaeth a chwmni da. Fedrwch chi wylio'r rhaglen ar clic neu iPlayer. Dwi'n meddwl ma' rhaid i chi fod yn y Deyrnas Unedig i'w wylio.
***
Last summer, I took part in popular Welsh walking show, Am Dro ("for a walk"). It was broadcast last week on S4C. It was a great pleasure to take part and to meetmy fellow contestants and the TV crew. We had a facinating history-filled and sunny walk in Llangollen, a dramatic and atmospheric stroll around Llyn Ogwen near where I grew up, a drizzly musical amble along the Glyndwr Way above Machynlleth, and an amazing coastal nature walk near St Davids. You can watch it on clic or BBC iPlayer. I think you have to be in the UK to watch it.