Y Mabinogi – The 4th Branch Recording is Complete

The blog and my Patreon have been a little quiet over the past few weeks as I’ve put the finishing touches on the 4th Branch album. It brings together nearly two years of work, plus this album is also the culmination of a journey to bring the Four Branches of the Mabinogi to audio with spoken word, poetry, and song – these tales were always meant to be heard, not read – that began nearly ten years ago. The last things to do were to place the mixed and mastered songs and add the incidental music and scoring to the spoken word. I’ll be honest and say that these are my favourite moments, hearing and witnessing the story come to life, and man, did it come to life!

From the beginning of my relationship with these ancient stories, the 4th Branch was my favourite of the Four Branches. It was the most accessible and felt the most magical, too. Possibly the Branch that had lost the least of its original Occult messages in its writing by those Christian scribes from the 1300s, but as I began the journey creating these audio versions, each one came to life. Each tale, when you dive into them as deeply as I’ve had to, revealed their own inner magic and let me in. The biggest surprise was the Third Branch, which, on the surface, felt like a linear and not particularly exciting tale until I stepped into Pryderi’s shoes and experienced the Great Mist and the adventure that followed.

I had a break from the Y Mabinogi albums to write and record Raise the Flag of Green. It’s been 5 years since the Third Branch was released, so it took a bit of time to reconnect with the Journey. I listened to all three of the previous albums to remember the voice I’d used and the overall feel of the albums. Then the Journey of the 4th Branch began as I wrote and recorded the spoken word story.

If you know the tale, you will know that there are parts of this Branch that are very difficult, and I wanted to handle those moments sensitively, but with honesty too. Pryderi is once more the narrator of the tale, and of course, there are elements of the story that he simply wouldn’t know until much later, so I had to seriously consider at what point the story begins from his viewpoint, and then reveal the hidden acts gradually as the tale moves on. Once I’d finished the entire album, and had listened through a few times, I went back and read the Branch to make sure that all of the tale is there in my recording, and thankfully I hadn’t missed anything out.

Once the album was finished, I invited my Grove and their partners over for what I’ve now called a ‘Beta Test’ night. We’ve done this for all of the Branches, and their honest opinions and feedback have been priceless. So twelve of us gathered in our lounge, tea and chips and dips were shared, and then I pressed play. I was nervous. This was not just another Beta Test night – it was the last one! As with the other Branches, it’s a double album that runs to an hour and fifty minutes, so I played the first CD, we had a break, then continued with the second CD. They loved it, which was a huge relief, and, as always, there was some very useful feedback too. The clapping and tears also helped make me relax – I think you are all going to love it.

So the last thing to be done is the album artwork, and Cerri will start that in December. I know the trailer says it’ll be out in 2025, but it will probably be ready for release in February 2026. So not long now, and I can’t wait for you to hear it! When you have your copy, or you press play on your preferred streaming service, all I ask is that you give yourself two hours of free time to listen to the tale from beginning to end, with no interruptions. Treat it like a movie. Maybe between now and then, listen to the previous three Branches so you are all ready to go.

I’ll keep you posted, and I’m sure Cerri will post some updates on the artwork as things progress – I will too.