“What’s the world’s greatest invention?” asked Mercury and Welsh Music Prize nominee Gwenno. “Cheese” comes the response from the crowd. “You got it” she smiled, before teaching us to sing the world’s greatest Cornish cheese song with synth-laced elegance, “Eus keus?” she sang as we echoed the words with euphoric, barefoot dancing and applause. For answers to this, and the world’s other leading questions, the best place to be this weekend was the earth’s largest music and Philosophy festival HowTheLightGetsIn, where the musicians had as many political and philosophical points to make as the politicians and philosophers themselves.
Set on the grounds of Kenwood House, in Hampstead, The Glastonbury of Philosophy gave everyone there a sense of cognitive freedom. Filled with yurts, tipis, Bedouin tents multicoloured flags and giant flowers emphasizing how tiny we are in relation to the universe, or possibly a homage to ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids‘ but, either way, looking up at the clouds through the huge flowers, the festival certainly made everyone there look at everyday objects and practises from a completely different angle. The environment and programme of over 200 events was set up to enable this. I’m sure that many of the festival goers, like me left feeling spiritually and intellectually nourished and uplifted after talking about the most important things in life for two days, rather than analysing which Tik Tok Life hack actually works.
Like an Ancient Greek Symposium, it wasn’t all serious talk and debate – there was partying and feasting too on velvet sofas in the bookshop, where it was easy to chat to the authors and speakers as they signed their books, and to relax on faux sheep skin benches in the waterfront cafe.
With Mercury-nominated music, Edinburgh Fringe Festival comedy and whip smart cabaret, we were all in it together. It could be argued that HowTheLightGets is paralleled to a certain kind of utopia. The tipis themselves were opulent, carpeted and clean, each with a different vibe. My favourite of which was the Woodburner Tent; a red embroidered Beduin tent, with a giant bird hanging from the roof, bejewelled walls with rugs and cushions on the floor when you could listen to the most amazing music, from Cameroonian jazz to indie folk to indie to Senegalese fused Americana. It felt like being in a musical womb, like a grown-up version of the Chai tent at Glastonbury. I was left wondering why real life couldn’t be a little bit more like this.
In a time when we are taught to consume rather than question, in a time when we are separated by virtual walls in the name of ‘connection,’ real life gatherings on the political and philosophical matters mean the most to us and are more important than ever. When do we ever get the chance to discuss important issues together as a society this in real life? Like the Ancient Greek Agoras, when do we ever get to gather to discuss important universal matters nowadays apart from online?
As The Independent said, it’s a festival where, “You can bump into a Nobel Prize Winner in the coffee queue.” This is true. All the speakers, singers and artists hung around afterwards chatting; people of opposing ends of the political spectrum were having real life debates in the festival tents in an open and civilized fashion with skilled mediators in between. In the days of the internet where anonymity makes keyboard warriors and potential ‘trolls’ hide their humanity behind their screens, a lot of civilized decorum and mediation has been absent from online debate. The benefit of real life discussions are clear at HowTheLightGetsIn.
It was inspiring to see progressive civilized talks some with obvious friction, taking place in the tents, rather than the reactionary online world, leading to civilized progress being made rather than too much mudslinging. Online, it is easy to dehumanise one’s political opponent, but in real time I saw those with opposing views having a drink and chat together afterwards in the bar. This level of civilized opposition could rarely happen online or even in Parliament in some cases. This is what progressive debate should be like.
We, as the audience, could easily get involved if requested too, especially in the smaller tents. The intimacy allowed some audience members to say things that they couldn’t usually say out loud such as “Capitalism was made by dead white men, is it really fit for purpose anymore?” The festival was not afraid to tackle certain issues head on such as debates on Capitalism V Marxism head onto head with a debate between Matthew Lesh and Aaron Bastini. In this case the mediator Mariam Francois was particularly effective and seemed to be an absolute titan of Socratic dialogue making both sides of the argument look absurd, enabling each participant to delve deeper. More people like her, please. There were gender issues tackled such as ‘Misunderstandings of Miscarriage” and the sociosexual politics of the Sexual Revolution with Dr Lucy Perry who argued that the pill served the libido of the likes of Hugh Hefner more than it did the sexual liberation of the likes of Marilyn Monroe, as well as globe spanning theories such as the debate about whether free will was an illusion or not. We even got an enlightening masterclass on speech writing from Tony Blair’s script writer, Philip Collins, and a novel writing masterclass from Sophie Ward and so much more. Walking around the intimate tents felt like a real-life series of exciting Ted Talks with the leading experts in their field, speaking in a field with us.
The festival’s name comes from’ How the Light Gets in’ comes from the Leanord Cohen lyric, ‘There’s a crack in everything. that’s how the light gets in’ and that’s what I think is the crux of this festival. The opposition is there, of course; that is what we are here for. The opposition creates the crack or the conflict, but inside that space is where we can find insight into where the light can get in. The audience listens to both sides and lets light come in through their own cracked windows.
Online we are often in danger of hearing an echo chamber of our own thoughts …or for people to say purposefully controversial things, just to get ‘likes’. But here, just wondering around the various tents you could end up hanging around listening to speeches and getting drawn in by the speaker’s enthusiasm. For example, Dr Harry Cliff’s ‘Secrets of the Universe’ talk on particle physics and the search for origin of matter had the audience spellbound, particularly his work on the Large Hadron Collider. Everyone in the small yurt could feel his infectious enthusiasm for the next scientific breakthrough and were drawn in even if our knowledge was limited before, the energy and excitement and clear communication of such key concepts was palpable. When he was explaining the quantum and cosmic anomalies that could upend our understanding of the universe, we all became as excited as him about the scientific breakthroughs that he was on the verge of.
It wasn’t just the academic philosophers who had their say. Gwenno sang songs like the ethereal ‘Nid yw Cymru ar Werth‘ (“Wales is not for Sale”), saying “People are not for sale. Nowhere is for sale. No one should have a second home until everyone has a first home” which was met with rapturous applause. Gwenno spoke of her mother Lyn Mererid, who was sitting in the same tipi as us and Gwenno’s son. She had asked her mum to babysit her son while she was on tour, then and all of a sudden, she got a text showing her mum on the news on a ‘Not My King‘ protest in Cardiff during the new monarch’s visit to Cardiff Castle. She said, “It was interesting experience for my son.” Luckily, Gwenno’s mum didn’t get arrested as she was a seasoned professional and got a round of applause from the audience in the tipi that day.
Mererid is a Welsh translator and socialist activist, providing ‘the political awareness, socialism, moral fibre and grit that is evident throughout her lyrics and music.’ Gwenno told Nation Cymru that the Welsh Language Society had been incredibly influential in her life, as “my Mum, like so many mothers across Wales, was imprisoned twice campaigning with them for Welsh Language rights during the early 90s.” On the RTE’s Dave Fanning Show, Gwenno said of her mother, “I am really proud of her” , whilst also acknowledging that she feels like it was the right thing to do to postpone the Mercury Prize ceremony, because now she feels as if she has been nominated twice!
In the political and philosophical debate going on between Paul Mason and Peter Huchins in the Arena tent next door, they discussed whether Britian should apologise for Colonialism, with Mason arguing that Britian should apologise for colonialism and Hitchins arguing no. HowTheLightGetsIn Philosophy Festival is a space for political and philosophical debate; an open inclusive space to discuss what the world should be like, even if some ideas are not agreed by everyone. In the manner of Plato‘s Republic, Socrates argued about what would make the ideal society and everyone at the festival was equally expressing their views on a perfect society.
This festival was the ideal space for open and safe debate, after all the programme involved a well balanced spectrum of political views and was all the better for it. The audience were clearly mixed too, with different audience members clapping for opposing arguments, but everyone maintaining balanced respect for the other people present.
Gwenno’s songs are rooted in Celtic traditions and sung in Cornish and Welsh. Psychedelic and synth based, layered with techno beats drums and electric guitar. There’s signs of alt – folk, kraut rock, new wave pyc- folk and synth pop. Although not initially and obviously political, the very nature of singing in a language that has been crushed out of a society is a political act in itself, like in Brian Friel’s Translations, where renaming places in English is reflected as an act of oppression. By singing in her father’s native Cornish she is empowering the language. At the HowTheLightGetsIn Festival she stood on stage like a Celtic Warrior using ancient Celtic ornamented melismatic vocal techniques to induce a hypnotic trance in the listener similar to the Irish Sean-nós tradition, but modernised for the 21st century with a bed of techno beats, electro guitars, drums, bass and synths, woven with psychedelic hook- laden pop riffs. It was understated yet beautifully powerful.
She stood in the twinkling Tipi; a canvas wooden tent strewn with fairy lights; a tent that could easily have been inhabited of Celtic Tribes of yore. It wasn’t long before people were taking off their shoes and dancing in front of the stage. There was already something quite tribal about the environment and even intellectually freeing too. There was an earthy vibe both in the structure of the wooden beams in the tipi, the foliage on the stage and Celtic shapes being super imposed on the light. Her songs were deeply elemental too. In Songs like ‘Tir Ha Mor‘ you could just feel the elements without knowing what the words meant. It was only afterwards when I looked up the translation that I realised that she was singing about land and sea. Dancing outside, under the wooden beams of the tipi, under the stars, feet on the grass in the open air, we were feeling a lot of those elements, without even realizing. The music transcended the words and was almost even more powerful, because we don’t consciously process the Cornish language. Therefore, the music was going to a different place in our subconscious, feeling the vibes and emotions of the songs rather than analysing the lyrics, making it feel even more mystical and transcendental.
Gwenno seems to show a great faith in the audience, trusting that we can embrace these more underground concepts such as elemental Celtic mythology and mysticism as well as acknowledging more modern influences such as Aphex Twin.
It is not the first time that Gwenno has been at the forefront of a Celtic revival, having been a key dancer in Riverdance and Feet of Flames on tour. It was a complete revelation at the time and has now become part of our collective consciousness. Gwenno spoke to Dave Fanning about the fact that there is a whole host of ancient Celtic wisdom and mythology that is yet to be tapped into and now, with the political situation in the UK, maybe now is the time to tap into a different way of thinking. Who’s to say that Gwenno’s Celtic musical revival can’t cause a similar powerful shift in public consciousness too?
All these years of being embedded in music and dancing traditions seems to have led to a deep understanding of the craft which then allows experimentation and deviation to create this ‘lightening in a bottle’ moment that we are seeing now.
As well as headliner, Gwenno, the two day festival was filled with musical gems including Torture and the Desert Spider, New Jersey’s Ana Kunz singing whip smart gritty, folk tinged punk with knowing wit. A punk country star with a bite. Her catchy confessional tunes and incredibly witty and warm stage presence had the audience hooked. with hints of Courtney Barnet, Ani Di Franco. Her voice had amazing range and textures, with shouts going out ‘to imposter syndrome’ with emotive whip smart lyrics like, ‘I’m almost famous I’m almost nothing’ and an honest track about having a crush on an online computer tech support guy called, ‘Flirting with Jeremy. ‘ Going from soft arpeggios to fierce Riot Grrrl shredding she was like a grittier Kimya Dawson with smart confessional edgy lyrics and multi textured vocals.
Amy Antrobus then did the most outstanding version of Chris Isaac‘s ‘I Don’t Wanna Fall in Love’ that I have ever heard. The vibrato in her voice was dark rich and multi faceted- she was creating sounds that I had only ever heard being created by voice tuner before. It was breath-taking. Her confessional songs Like ‘Loveless Loop’ had folk like jazzy intonations and dark punchy riffs.
Moving out of the bookshop and Stage, we then saw the mind-blowing Matthew One Man. He created the most outstanding multi- layered sonic universes using only his guitar and 20 pedals. From outside the velvety confines wood burner tent you would be forgiven for thinking that there was an entire band in there. His skills were other worldly going from Indian sitar riffs reminiscent of George Harrison’s ‘Wonderwall Music‘ to Spanish classical guitar to ethereal psychedelia to techno ending humorously with a trance version of ‘My Heart will go on’.’ Everyone who was chilling on the cushions on the floor of the Bedouin tent were up and dancing as if they were at a rave. This was his last festival of the season having done the festival circuit since March. His music is jaw-droppingly uplifting and awe inspiring. We can’t wait to see what he does next.
Back in the tipi, Rosie Alena bought dark elegance to the Hat Stage. You could easily imagine her in a goth noir film or episode of Twin Peaks. With hand gestures like Edith Pief and a liquid gold voice like Joni Michell her lyrics and stage presence were mesmerizing. She held the audience in the palm of her hand with intense vulnerability of songs ‘Adore me’ juxtaposed with rousing uplifting bangers like ‘God’s Garden,’ encouraging listeners to love themselves as well as loving others. You can absolutely imagine her commanding huge stages in the future with her spellbinding presence and tight backing band, while Lea & The Sunflowers brought a futuristic Afro-Jazz vibe with a genre-bending sound from high life, to bossa nova and reggae, bringing her Congolese influences to festival with both joy and introspection.
Katie Mac brought her warmth, 60s style powerhouse of a voice and incredible narrative ballads to the stage. Her lyrics carried us vividly on the narrative’s journey, the song about her dad waving at her from her home in Huyton being particularly moving. The Jimi Hendrix of Cameroon, Muntu Valdo, brought us his outstanding multi-layered, jazz blues and soul together with his incredible acapella which he looped skilfully with a loop pedal. He will be playing at Alexandra Palace and The Queen Elizabeth Hall next.
Mumble Tide indie band had the most amazing chemistry as a musical couple and despite a spider landing on one of their faces during the set, they kept going. This is tight, strong melodic bedroom indie with Magic Numbers style vocals, beautifully sun-soaked melodies and jangly riffs. Their bio said that they had no boundaries musically and this could clearly be seen later in the set when their sound got wonderfully heavy and more gritty. Thier stage presence was witty, and charismatic when Gina introduced a song by saying, “This song is about my neck which Ryan says is abnormally long!” Lighter earlier tracks were juxtaposed with heavier, darker Courtney Barnett style tracks like ‘Sucker’ with hazy shoegaze style 90s riffs. They are a joy to watch.
Bourgeois & Maurice brought their hilariously sharp brand of music hall cabaret to the festival covering climate change, Brexit, politics and British values in side-splitting fashion. Their sharp clever wit, cut through key political issues with razor sharp vision bringing us all on their gloriously colourful trip with them.
Wanderland brought a completely otherworldly feel to the Woodburner Stage later in the night.
Indie band, Wanderland did one of the most magical spell binding sets of the festival. With twinkling ethereal, lush intense vocals and warm introspective poetic lyrics.Their tracks were beautifully timeless- it felt as if they had always existed, blending indie folk, electronica and jazz with nods to ancient myth and the universal human condition. Their name Wonderland seemed to echo the open space of the wilderness which we were cocooned in. With lyrics that were beautifully warm dark and fragile, there were echoes of Mazzy Star in the stunning vocals. Ornamented with soft jazz scatting, echoing the patter of the rain outside the piano keys mirrored the voice with the fuzz of the cymbal like droplets of rain. It was musical art at its finest. Wanderland created their own magical cocoon in the warm confines of the Woodburner tent. Their lyics said, “I’ll take my boat home to you so soon” and we were all so lucky to be there on that musical journey with them at the festival. They made us all feel at home in their sonic world. No wonder their EP ‘Songs,I ‘ was described as “One of the best records of 2021” by BBC Introducing.
Wonderland have a new single “Weightless” out on 14th October, from their upcoming record Songs, II out in November and we can’t wait to hear it. In fact, I have been playing their first EP on a loop since that magical gig in the Woodburner Tent.
HowTheLightGetsIn was one of the most unique uplifting festivals that I have ever attended and I’m sure that most people will have felt the magic and strength there, leaving the festival feeling nourished and hopeful after the music and debates realizing that “That which unites us is far greater than that which divides us” and that some mediums, like music and art, transcends all barriers, bringing unity by its very essence. I can’t wait until the next one
HowTheLightGetsIn has unique and extraordinary festivals in Hay on Wye and London.See website for more information
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