The Joy Formidable is happier than ever

Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan says the band argues a lot less now that she and bassist Rhydian Dafydd are no longer an item. Photo: TNS

When musical couples who are in a band together break up, it can make a group newly interesting (Fleetwood Mac), destroy it entirely (Sonic Youth, probably), or in the case of Welsh alt-rock band the Joy Formidable, something in the middle.

Singer-guitarist Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan and bassist Rhydian Dafydd broke up their long-term relationship before recording the Joy Formidable’s most recent full-length release, 2016’s Hitch. The album serves as both a fiery relationship post-mortem and an ode to their continuing closeness. “We’d been a couple through the band so far, so I think in that sense it is a break-up album,” Bryan says in a phone interview. “I think it’s actually celebrating that we’ve managed to remain the friends that we are, even after going through a big change. There was definitely some grieving and sadness involved, but we’ve been able to see past a lot of that.”