Llais

Llais explores the juxtaposition of Cai Gwilym Pritchard’s expectations of Llyn Celyn, site of the 1965 Tryweryn flooding, and what they actually found upon visiting.
Cai borrows from techniques and structures of Audio Drama, a medium they have immersed themselves in since the age of 17, and attempts to address the ‘hierarchy of voices’ that audio drama privileges. In this way the piece could be considered an audio art drama, layering elements together to produce a narrative of sorts, whilst simultaneously trying to maintain non-hierarchical treatment of each sound used. The collapse of this hierarchy further illustrates the artificiality of the division between ‘humanity’ and ‘nature’ present in the society.
The field recordings and footage used are taken from a single recording day at Llyn Celyn. The recordings feature an ever present drone of cars driving along the road that encircles the lake, something Cai has chosen to amplify in the earlier sections of the piece. These sections are Cai’s attempt to represent what they expected to find, and how they expected to feel, at Llyn Celyn, a site forcefully evacuated and flooded to provide water for Liverpool.
The rest of the piece takes a quieter and less gloomy feel as the listener is presented with less-manipulated recordings, being allowed to sit and absorb what's actually there. It is this juxtaposition which represents Cai’s own experience in visiting the site.