Today, Thallo shares her new single ‘Pluo‘ (‘Feathering‘) and news of her forthcoming bilingual Crescent EP released on the 28th Oct on Côsh Records. ‘Pluo‘ is inspired by a subject matter deeply personal to Thallo – immobility. It swells wonderfully with a rich tapestry of subtle instrumentation and warm brass decorated in Thallo’s vocals that are both tender and wistful: it’s a sound that blurs the lines of jazz-smattered pop and dreamy soundscapes.
Pluo translates as ‘feathering’ in English, meaning ‘lightly snowing’ which relates to the song’s poignant opening line “I gather dust which is feathering stillness.” Inspired by the effects of a sudden illness that Thallo suffered in 2020 which caused chronic knee pain and debilitating mobility issues, ‘Pluo‘ touches on the peculiar pain of watching the world return to normal following lockdown, whilst Thallo was trapped in what she describes as “My own personal lockdown.” As she expands “I felt so stuck, unable to return to my normal life. But most of all, the song is a cry of fear for the loneliness and hopelessness of being left behind whilst everyone else moves forward.”
‘Pluo‘’s excellent accompanying video, is a collaboration with Welsh channel Lŵp (S4C), takes inspiration from psychological horror and is filmed at the popular ghost-hunting spot Bron y Garth Hospital, a former 1800s workhouse/hospital now abandoned and frozen in-time, as Thallo explains “The setting perfectly mirrors Pluo’s lyrics of feeling stuck and deteriorating.”
It sees Thallo wake to find herself in a blood-filled bath on the decaying hospital floor, what ensues is a struggle to escape the derelict building peppered with eerie imagery and horrifying flashbacks that lead to the chilling conclusion – that Thallo is in fact dead and trapped in purgatory. Watch it below.
Thallo is the work of Gwynedd, North Wales/London based artist Elin Edwards, over the course of her debut Nhw EP (2018) and a series of highly received singles, notably 2021’s Mêl, Pressed and Preserved, The Water, and more recently Carry Me (2022) from the forthcoming Crescent EP, she has garnered radio support from Sian Eleri (Radio 1) and Huw Stephens (BBC 6 Music, Radio Wales), with Thallo also recording a session at Maida Vale, Thallo has performed at The Great Escape and is booked to play 2023’s SXSW.
