TTSSFU, Adult DVD, Man/Woman/Chainsaw & more make their mark at 2025 edition of Cardiff’s Swn Festival

Once the full programme really gets underway on Friday, there are some brutal clashes to navigate; Prima Queen’s set (wonderfully fun pop refinement that does justice to one of this year’s most overlooked albums, 'The Prize') overlaps with that of hometown hero Gruff Rhys, who still has plenty of solo business to attend to before Super Furry Animals return next year. That show packs Cardiff’s only other medieval survivor, St. John the Baptist Church, to capacity, but there is room to squeeze in later for a stunning, stripped-back turn by Clara Mann, who holds the place in pin-drop silence. And, really, she needs to, so delicate are the songs that make up her debut album, 'Rift'; wounded, tentative meditations on the sand-through-fingers nature of modern relationships that inevitably take on a spiritual feeling in these surroundings.

Afterwards, the traditional dash between venues gets underway in earnest; up at the impressive new grassroots venue The Canopi, Cloth’s set feels like a seamless transition from Mann’s. The twin duo of Rachael and Paul Swinton cemented their status as one of the finest Glaswegian musical exports of recent years with a wonderful LP, 'Pink Silence', back in April, and live, its songs strike upon a real power and profundity somewhere in the space between their lyrical tumult and their minimalist pop structures. Back down the road at Clwb Ifor Bach, stylistic whiplash is in prospect; Man/Woman/Chainsaw veer between boisterous and outright chaotic, with the London sextet imbuing the genre fluidity of their Windmill scene forebears with the unpredictable dynamics that are quickly becoming their signature, especially if the reception for ‘Ode to Clio’ is anything to go by.

Downstairs, in the smaller of the club’s two spaces, possibly the set of the weekend follows. TTSSFU, the solo project of Manchester’s Tasmin Stephens, released a terrific EP earlier this year, 'Blown'. A buzzy release in more ways than one - partly because it was her first for Partisan Records; partly because it sounds like somebody feeding a low-level electric shock through a traditional dream-pop blueprint - it comes scored through with an uneasy and completely beguiling atmosphere; this is bedroom pop in which you can hear the walls closing in. Live, the songs are a complete revelation - absolutely ferocious, noisy and broiling, and yet undercut with unmistakable melody. Stephens has a big 2026 ahead of her.

While, admittedly, there's no topping that on Friday night, the following afternoon - and the closing day of the festival - begins with less a three-way clash than a migraine-inducing dilemma: a not-so-secret set from The Bug Club; the post-punk of The Sick Man of Europe; or the reliable genius of Kathryn Joseph. The latter wins out, and delivers a wonderfully moody set at Clwb Ifor Bach, playing a slew of material from May’s 'WE WERE MADE PREY.' as well as reworking older cuts with the help of that album’s producer, Lomond Campbell. 

As the afternoon bleeds into evening, there's ample evidence of the sheer eclecticism of the bill, including what might be the pick of the Welsh acts, local folk legend Gareth Bonello, who goes by The Gentle Good. His turn at St. John the Baptist is something to behold; the kind of heady folk music that feels as if it’s been dug out of the ancient earth, with a deep reverence for Welsh language and culture. Later, stand-outs include Goodnight Louisa over at Tiny Rebel - the Glasgow-based singer-songwriter who's making fabulously witty dark disco that meets on the corner of Robyn and Molly Nilsson - before the controlled experimental chaos of Squid closes proceedings in front of a packed Tramshed. The locals are fiercely proud of Sŵn; of its community spirit, of the wonderfully characterful venues, and of its fearless programming. As the threat to grassroots live music persists, its importance grows; it is becoming less a music festival, and more a roar of defiance.

Tags: Adult DVD, Man/Woman/Chainsaw, TTSSFU, Sŵn, Festivals, Reviews, Live Reviews