Oxen Mare

‘There’s something profound at the heart of this’

Adam Walton, BBC Wales

I’ve been writing and recording music since my early twenties under the name Oxen Mare; atmospheric, harmony-rich folk-pop.

I released my first EP, a small fire, in 2024, which you can listen to here.

I’m currently working on a couple of different projects inspired by Welsh plantlore and Welsh women in folklore, mythology and history, imagining and exploring the experiences of different characters living in a patriarchal environment. My substack sing to the oxen shares my progress and research around this, as well as my journey learning the harp.

Performing at Saison in Manchester in March 26, accompanied by the wonderful Hazel Genevieve. The clip is from the song In Your Hands, inspired by the character Bloduewedd from The Mabinogion. Lyrics below.

I live to please you.

I live to do the things that women do to keep you warm.

Blossom in your hands.

My life for this man

who chose all that I am.

Who even are these guys?

And what have they been taught and what have I

to place my worth in their desire

who plucked me from the earth

and banished me to the sky

I preside.

So I claim the night

on a silent glide

with no voice

but flight.

And in your reckless way you knew not bird nor prey

you did not see all that I became.

And in your selfishness

you took from the Oak, the Broom, the Meadowsweet

seeing only what you wanted to see

in my face so fair and lovely

but you know not of the depth of my reach.

I deceived you well.

Caught in a woman’s wiles.

But I was never truly alive.

As the night draws near

I’m not looking back in fear

for my approach you will not hear.

And as the night sets in

I hunt on the wing.

You will not see me coming.

Performing the song ‘Nothing’, at the Art of Tea in Manchester with Hazel Genevieve on viola.

All songs, lyrics and images by Esther Williams.