We in Louisiana have a healthy obsession with music being of a place, often fretting over the particular neighborhood that produced certain types. But we are not the only ones in the world who feel that their homes inform their art. Alternative rock/dream pop act the Joy Formidable sees how its native North Wales has influenced its sound. “We were kind of left to our own devices a little bit in North Wales,” says bassist/vocalist Rhydian Dafydd. “We all come from pretty sleepy towns and there wasn’t a lot of bands coming through. There wasn’t one sound that was always present when we were out and going to live gigs, so we were free to make up whatever sounds we wanted.”

Joy Formidable, The Big Roar, 2011

North Wales’ isolation is due in part to its extensive countryside, another factor influencing the members of the Joy Formidable, which also includes vocalist/guitarist Rhiannon “Ritzy” Bryan and drummer Matthew Thomas. “We all love nature as well,” says Dafydd. “We love to go out walking to the expanses and so forth. There’s maybe an element of that in the music occasionally, but it’s quite a broad thing.”

While a strong Welsh influence may be more “broad” on the albums the Joy Formidable has released thus far—2011’s blistering The Big Roar and the progressive 2013 effort Wolf’s Law—the band has delved into its Welsh heritage with Aruthrol, a vinyl-only collection of tracks sung in Welsh from the Joy Formidable and other Welsh acts. “We’ve wanted to release a bigger body of work, or at least a few songs in Welsh, for quite some time,” says Dafydd. “We’ve been writing so much for the next record, it just kind of made sense.”

Aruthrol has also provided a way for the Joy Formidable to foster the Welsh artistic community and put the Welsh music scene on a far bigger platform. “It was a natural, organic thing to do because we had these songs that we were working on anyway, but we were able to help a bunch of other bands in the North where we’re from as well,” says Dafydd. “It just felt perfect. Every release is by a Welsh artist and all the artwork is done by an artist from Wales, so it felt like a great communal project.”

The Joy Formidable, Wolf’s Law, 2013

The renewed focus on community has led to earthier, more organic songs stemming from Aruthrol, a stark contrast to the more slick and polished The Big Roar and especially Wolf’s Law. “I think we got that maybe from being at home in North Wales,” says Dafydd. “That’s where we recorded our next record. So there’s an element of that that comes into the new album, but in a different way as well.”

The Joy Formidable embraced another aspect of community for its 2015 single: fandom. The band released a moody, atmospheric cover of the Twin Peaks television show theme song this past summer. “Ritzy and Matt have been watching the old series and getting excited about the new one, and it just felt like ‘Okay, cool, let’s give it a go,’” says Dafydd. “It wasn’t too overthought. It’s such a great piece of music, and we enjoyed the challenge of putting our own spin on it.”

The Welsh influence and more community-driven spirit are driving forces behind the Joy Formidable’s next as-yet-untitled album, due early next year. “I think the album has a reduction quality to it,” says Dafydd. “It’s just us three in a room and the essence, the vibe and the atmosphere of the tracks come through in the performance. We’ve always dabbled with production techniques and not minded splicing things up, but for this one there is more of a raw, spacious live sound. I think it’s not quite as multi-layered and dense as Wolf’s Law and maybe with that it shows more of a fragility. It will have some quiet moments and some loud moments.”

The Joy Formidable albums are always strongly unified around a theme, with The Big Roar centered on the struggle between optimism and depression and Wolf’s Law focusing on growth and strength arising from pain. The new album will continue this trend, but not in a way one may expect. “I think maybe this album recognizes some of the darkness a bit more instead of always pushing for optimism,” says Dafydd. “It is at times a bit more resigned to the struggles.”

Despite embracing the darkness, the Joy Formidable’s focus on community positions that darkness not as a resignation, but a call to action. “There’s plenty of things to be fighting against and trying to change and yet trying to do that with optimism and hope while still recognizing the difficulties,” says Dafydd. “It’s not being blindly optimistic; we’ve got to make an attempt to push forward and know that tomorrow is a new day. I think that’s a theme that runs through the band in general, so it’s always going to be present on our albums.”

The Joy Formidable plays the Voodoo Festival’s Altar Stage on Friday, October 30 at 3:45 p.m.