SINGER-SONGWRITING duo Ophelia will perform in the BrewDog, Cardiff on May 3.

Ophelia is the collaborative project of Rebecca Van Cleave and Samuel Taylor.

The two had been performing together in the US, promoting their respective solo projects, when they decided it was time to bring together some of their favourite musicians and make a record.

On returning to the UK in February 2016, they contacted their neighbour at the time, producer David Glover from Tesla Studios in Sheffield, who has worked with acts including Slow Club, Michael Malarkey, and Pete (Dexy’s) Williams.

As a three piece, they started demoing the tracks and, as summer approached, they began work on their record.

They called in producer and drummer Greg Haver, of Manic Street Preachers and Super Furry Animals fame, and Grammy-nominated Nashville fiddle player Eamon McLoughlin. The band was formed and the album sessions took place in June 2016.

The album was mixed in October 2016 by Clint Murphy, who recently had a UK number one album with Devilskin, and mastered by Ryan Smith at Sterling Sound, who has worked on albums for Adele, Beyonce, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and James Taylor to name but a few.

The album tells a story of past and present - a journey of time, love, life, and loss.

It is an introspective record that draws on influences from many different genres of music.

Sam says about the album:“I suppose we’ve created a British Americana Rock record. It’s an honest album, written from the heart, and we wanted to honour that by keeping the instrumentation on the tracks raw and organic.”

The album even includes a track written by Rebecca’s father, Chris Van Cleave, who was a founding member of the 1970s Paramount Records band Meadow.

The Artist was originally sung by Laura Brannigan, who later went on to sing hits such as Gloria. Rebecca rediscovered the song after she and her father played it in her family living room one night during a snowstorm in Virginia. She decided it needed to find new life again on the record.

Rebecca, an actress well know for her role as Lena Heady’s body double in HBO’s Game of Thrones and as the lead in the multi award-winning horror short The Prey, only released her debut EP in September 2015, but has quickly progressed down the road of music with her recordings receiving airplay from BBC Introducing.

Samuel has been a part UK music scene for 15 years, first with his bands Dead Like Harry and Taylor and Marie, and as a guitarist for acts such as the Ivor Novello nominated Nerina Pallot; then more recently, with his solo releases including the Tales From A Troubadour EP series, which took place throughout 2015, where he travelled around the world recording a series of EP’s in different towns and cities.

Entry to their show is free.