Welsh singer Gwenno Saunders has reflected on her formative teenage years touring America as a performer in Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance, describing a period marked by "drink, drugs, eating disorders" that was far removed from the wholesome image of Irish dancing the show projected. The remarks come as she promotes her latest solo album, Utopia, and prepares for a self-managed run of Irish concerts, offering a candid look back at a demanding and turbulent chapter of her early life.

Now performing as a solo artist, Gwenno acts as her own tour manager and books her own gigs, saying her "control freak" tendencies keep her more connected to events and reduce surprises. Her Irish tour opens at the Earagail Arts Festival in Letterkenny on 14 July. Utopia is notable as the first of her solo records written mainly in English; the trilingual artist (Welsh, Cornish and English) says the inspiration arrived in English, a language she had not explored creatively for years, and writing in it revived old emotions and deepened her connection to the material.