'Another Night in Merthyr' is a compilation of the poetry of Huw Parsons, Mike Jenkins and Bernard Hamilton, the music of Mal Grint, Paul Keddle, Nigel Evans, John & Jaye Vickers (Klezmerpolitan) and Jamie Bevan - plus the voices of Huw, Mike, Paul, Phyl Griffiths, Sian Drinan, Bernard and Jamie.

The first two tracks have a raw spontaneity about them. The first 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love' is performed by Mal Grint, a born-and-bred Merthyr man, at Ebbw-Vale Acoustic Club.

Whilst the second 'Another Night in Merthyr' is sung by Paul Keddle at 'The Gremlin' in Brecon. Paul takes a little time to get in to the groove but, when he does, produces something that's reminiscent, to me at least, of Ray Davies and 'The Kinks.'

Huw Parsons's verse takes up the lion's share of this CD. He lives far from Merthyr in the leafy Wye valley near the English border and so his writing is essentially that of an outsider, a visitor to the town who is shocked at the decline and shabbiness he finds.

'God Forgive Me' is about Robert T. Crawshaw, the son of the founder of Cyfartha Iron Works, whose exploits and whose 'Coal-black soul' and 'Iron will' still loom large in the town's folklore.

'Hey Jones' is a South-Walian version of Jimmy Hendrix's 'Hey Joe.' It is read by Huw and Phyl Griffiths who has a voice that's half Richard Burton and half Errol the Hamster, (Roland Rat's sidekick.)

'The Merthyr Pilgrim' finds Sian Drinan bursting into spontaneous song at the beginning of her performance in the echoing nave of Brecon cathedral.

'Away With Words' is a simple love poem that's given an on-the-spot reinterpretation by Phyl Griffiths, while the final track, 'Deep Love' finishes Huw's contribution, somehow aptly enough, with a last-line/last-word joke.

Mike Jenkins has made Merthyr his home and how it shows in this collection of verse. He sees the town from within and captures the craziness and tragedy of the place in the vibrant dialect of the locals. He gives us nine short pieces that show the absurd humour that can be found in one of the poorest places in the country. And yet compassion is an ever-present undercurrent in these poems, as we hear in 'Em'tied Lives' where a hard-working couple lose their home through repossession. This selection of poems comes from Mike's book 'Barkin!' which was published by Gwasg Carreg Gwalch in 2013.

Bernard Harrington reads us four short poems about Capel Cwmyglo (one of the earliest non-conformist chapels in the country,) the Jewish cemetery, just outside Merthyr, at Cefn Coed; the famous hymn writer Joseph Parry and a chance encounter with the boxer Johnny Owen, who was tragically killed during a match with Lupe Pintor in Los Angeles in 1980.

Jamie Bevan rounds off the CD with his raucous sing-along song 'Stydoedd Merthyr' ('The Streets of Merthyr,' which is sung in Welsh with a dash of English thrown in for good measure.

All in all this is a thoroughly good listen, showing how Merthyr, a one-time boom town, can still inspire such writing and performances of quality, depth, humour and variety.

Jill Hall (Writer and Critic.) 10th February, 2014.