Mali Hâf: The Welsh Voice Blending Celtic Soul with Feminist Pop Power

With her soaring bilingual vocals and fearless feminist lyrics, Mali Hâf is emerging as one of Wales’ most distinctive and powerful new musical voices and will be live at The Louisiana in Bristol on Wednesday 15 October 2025. Tickets are £13.75 including booking fees.

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Fresh from her Glastonbury Festival debut in June, the Cardiff-born singer-songwriter is making waves with a unique blend of Welsh-language pop, electronic production, and soul-rooted storytelling. Her rise marks a new chapter in the evolution of Welsh music, one that challenges tradition while embracing heritage.

At just 23, Mali Hâf has already developed a reputation for crafting bold, genre-blurring music. Her latest singles, including “H.W.F.M” – a reimagining of the Welsh national anthem from a feminist perspective – and “Llais,” which celebrates self-belief and voice as power, have earned critical acclaim across the UK.

“I want my songs to reflect who I am—Welsh, neurodivergent, and a woman,” Mali told Lock Magazine in a recent interview. “My music is how I process the world.”

Her 2023 EP Jig-So introduced a fully Welsh-language electronic sound, laced with traditional folk influences and layered with gritty modern production. Critics described it as “ethereal and urgent,” a sonic reflection of Mali’s complex artistic identity.

Diagnosed with ADHD at age 16, Mali often speaks openly about how neurodivergence shapes her creativity. “My brain’s at 100 miles an hour most days,” she shared in a profile with Alt.Cardiff. “It makes songwriting easy and finishing songs hard—but that’s part of my process.”

Mali studied at Leeds Conservatoire before returning to Wales to develop her sound. Working with producer MINAS, she began experimenting with beat-driven textures and philosophical lyrics. The result is a catalogue that spans dreamy neo-soul, glitchy alt-pop, and politically-charged Celtic anthems.

Her Glastonbury performance came via the festival’s prestigious Emerging Talent Competition, and in the same month, she was awarded £2,500 in funding from the PRS Foundation to continue her development. The support follows her growing popularity in Welsh and UK alternative scenes and is expected to fuel work on her debut full-length album, expected in 2026.

Themes of gender equality, safety for women, and cultural identity frequently appear in Mali’s lyrics. With songs sung in both English and Welsh, she uses language not just as a tool of expression, but as a form of resistance and pride.

“The Welsh language is more than just heritage,” Mali has said. “It’s alive. It’s evolving. I want to bring it into the future of pop music.”

As she continues to gain attention across platforms and festivals, Mali Hâf is proving that there is room—and demand—for artists who are unafraid to speak their truth in two tongues, blending the ancient and the contemporary into something wholly original.