Sarah Howells is a Welsh singer-songwriter and photographer also known as Bryde. She was a member of Welsh indie-folk band Paper Aeroplanes. She has been performing as the solo project 'Bryde' since 2016.
Howells formed her first band in Milford Haven,[1] West Wales, when she was 10 years old, with friend Nia George. They later formed a four-piece band, JYLT, with two other school friends.[2] JYLT was disbanded in 2004 when George died aged 21, of leukaemia.[3]
Howells' main musical project, together with co-writer and guitarist Richard Llewellyn, also from west Wales, was the band Paper Aeroplanes (originally known as Halflight). Formed (as Halflight) in 2003, Paper Aeroplanes have had national radio airplay on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music as well as touring Germany with Tina Dico and several releases since.[4] They released their debut album The Day We Ran into the Sea in 2009 and were nominated for the Welsh Music Prize with 2015 album JOY.[3]
She came to dance music by chance. When Lange, a DJ and record producer, moved to Cardiff and was looking for a female vocalist for his album Better Late Than Never, he met Howells, who lived there at the time.[5][6] They together produced the single "Out of the Sky". The song became a trance hit and was remixed by Kyau & Albert, and Aly & Fila. Armin van Buuren picked the song for his year compilation A State of Trance 2008.[7]Armin van Buuren also selected the song in his ASOT 500 broadcast.
After the success with her debut single, Howells worked with other trance musicians in 2009 such as First State, John O'Callaghan and Dash Berlin. Most successful was the single "Find Yourself", a collaboration with John O'Callaghan. The song made it on numerous compilations and the Cosmic Gate remix was also on the year compilation A State of Trance 2009.[8] In 2010, two of her songs each appeared on the album Changing Lanes of First State and Harmonic Motion of Lange.[9][10]
Bryde in Oslo in 2022
In 2016 Howells began a new solo project, using the name Bryde. Her EP has been played on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio Wales and, in 2016, she toured the UK and USA.[11][12] Her debut album, Like an Island, was released in 2018 to positive reviews.[13] It was followed up by a twenty-nine date European tour.[14]
