Celyn Of Gwent – Agony And Rapture

Fragile and unshakeable

The song ‘Agony And Rapture’ by Celyn Of Gwent hits me like an elec­tric shock with its sim­pli­city and con­sist­ency. Even on first listen, I am reminded of an avant-garde intens­ity that brings to mind Deine Lakaien. At the same time, I exper­i­ence this clear min­im­al­ism, which imme­di­ately reminds me of ‘Till The Dying Of The Light’ by Unify Separate – only here the reduc­tion seems even more powerful.

I find it fas­cin­at­ing how an inter­play of ten­sion, mel­an­choly and emo­tion has been cre­ated with so few means. It is pre­cisely this sparse synth-pop approach that makes every little nuance in the sound seem as if it were delib­er­ately placed. In the lyr­ics, I sense a struggle with the future, which is already col­lapsing in the present – lines like "no fixed and final chapter, this all can be swept away" won­der­fully cap­ture the cent­ral con­flict: tran­si­ence and hope col­lide head-on.

The accom­pa­ny­ing music video rein­forces this impres­sion. The min­im­al­ist por­trait shots seem almost oppress­ively intim­ate, while the quirky out­fits, the naively shin­ing eyes and masks intro­duce a grot­esque refrac­tion. For me, this con­trast fits per­fectly with the over­all mood of the song: vul­ner­able and at the same time dis­tant, fra­gile and yet unshakeable.

Listen to "Celyn Of Gwent – Agony And Rapture" on Spotify

Lyrics of "Celyn Of Gwent – Agony And Rapture"

Grapple with the future as it falls into the now.
Minimise my foot­steps as best as I am able.
Everybody’s turn­ing to the ‘why?’ and to the ‘how?’
Shutting up and watch­ing the world grow more unstable

The view is lovely from the top of the world, it's true.
But just a slip of the tongue and the walls are near.
Looking so fresh – every stitch of your skin is new,
but just you know this can be swept away my dear.

Can be swept away, can be swept away, can be swept away my dear

We’re stuck in a sticky trap:
no new path or action,
Bit parts of a big­ger bang,
a fore­gone chain reaction.

Oh, the castle is turned to sand
and oh, the blue sky has turned to thunder.
Oh, we’re dan­cing across the gaps,
over and over and over and under

Can be swept away, can be swept away, can be swept away my dear

Just open your eyes, you are more than a mind,
you are time, you are space, you are me.
So will you or won’t you darling?
Baby, honey, tell me please!

Can be swept away, can be swept away, can be swept away my dear

We’re stuck in a sticky trap:
no new path or action,
Bit parts of a big­ger bang,
a fore­gone chain reaction.

But noth­ing is set in stone,
no fixed and final chapter.
This all can be swept away
in agony and rapture.