Dafydd Owain's Ymarfer Byw wins 2026 Welsh music prize

Dafydd Owain has won the 2026 Welsh music prize with his second album, Ymarfer Byw, taking home £10,000. The record beat 14 other contenders, including new releases by Gruff Rhys, the Royston Club and Art School Girlfriend.

The judges praised Ymarfer Byw for its "musical excellence". The album had already collected Welsh language album of the year in August, making the Welsh music prize its second major distinction in under three months.

Who did Dafydd Owain beat?

The 2026 shortlist spanned Welsh-language songwriting, rock, folk, electronic music and guitar instrumentals:

• ADJUA – Everything Is Beautiful
• Aleighcia Scott – Taith
• Ani Glass – Phantasmagoria
• Art School Girlfriend – Lean In
• Cerys Hafana – Angel
• Chroma – 25 Forever
• Dafydd Owain – Ymarfer Byw
• Dewin – Dan y Dderwen
• Gruff Rhys – Dim Probs
• Gwenifer Raymond – Last Night I Heard the Dog Star Bark
• Local – Too Broke to Be This Busy
• Mari Mathias – Cyfarwydd
• Skindred – You Got This
• The Bug Club – Every Single Muscle
• The Royston Club – Songs for the Spine

Fifteen albums competed in total. Gruff Rhys, the former Super Furry Animals frontman, was in the running with Dim Probs; Skindred, the Newport metal band, with You Got This; and Art School Girlfriend, the project of Polar Bear's Jen Allen... no correction, of producer and songwriter Polly Mackey, with Lean In.

What does the win mean for Owain?

Ymarfer Byw is only Owain's second album. Described as emotionally charged, it has now won both of the major Welsh album accolades available to it in 2026 — Welsh language album of the year in August and the Welsh music prize itself in October.

The victory places Owain, a singer-songwriter working in Welsh, at the centre of a prize that historically rewards both Welsh- and English-language records. The £10,000 award is the richest recognition on the Welsh album calendar.

The double win for Ymarfer Byw confirms the strength of Welsh-language releases in this year's field, where albums by Aleighcia Scott (Taith), Dewin (Dan y Dderwen) and Mari Mathias (Cyfarwydd) also carried Welsh titles against competition from English-language acts.

For Owain, the coming months will show whether a second album can convert two jury prizes into the broader audience that the Welsh music prize was designed to create.