"We always aim to sound like the Cambrian Mountains rumbling and crashing around."

W: Adam Ricketts. I: Haydn Ward Streeter

Mid Wales and Bristol-based alternative rock outfit MOLETRAP have officially broken the silence of the "Green Desert" with their energetic new release, ‘Chicken’. Available now on all streaming platforms, the track serves as the lead-in to their highly anticipated forthcoming EP, Mid Welsh Pt. 2.

Far from a simple indie-rock anthem, ‘Chicken’ is a sonic rebellion. The band describes the track as a rally against the commodification of their home, weaving teenage nostalgia with a sharp critique of the "creeping capitalist takeover" of Mid Wales. It’s a song that bridges the gap between the personal and the political, shifting from memories of fishing in local reservoirs with their fathers to the "sloganeering" of modern protest.

The track’s lyrical landscape is as rugged as the terrain that inspired it. MOLETRAP draws deeply from local folklore, reimagining the Welsh lakes as portals for the Tylwyth Teg (fairy folk) to their untouched paradise gardens. This ethereal imagery is grounded by a heavy, "thundering" guitar sound that BBC Introducing has dubbed “un-ignorable great,” predicting that “a thousand mosh-pits await.”

This evolution marks a significant shift for the trio, who met in a Welsh-language school they once couldn't wait to leave. After two decades of exploring the nooks and crannies of the Cambrian Mountains, the band has traded their youthful rejection of the Welsh language for a fierce, bilingual pride. Their music has become a vessel for reclaiming a history they feel has been targeted for erasure.

Following the success of previous singles like ‘Nation of Sanctuary’ and ‘Rhagofn’—partially funded by BBC Horizons / Gorwelion—MOLETRAP continues to shatter the stereotype of Mid Wales as a sleepy, tranquil backwater. Instead, they present a region that is wild, expansive, and politically charged. With ‘Chicken,’ the band suggests that if the identity of Middle Wales continues to be eroded by outside interests, a new mural may soon join the iconic red walls of Wales: ‘Cofiwch Canol Cymru’