Welsh power-pop band tackles a Formidable touring schedule

At South by Southwest in March, Welsh power-pop band The Joy Formidable had six shows in six days, an exhausting gauntlet of performances at the Austin, Texas, festival. Lead singer Ritzy Bryan, however, has no complaints.

“It’s a very privileged lifestyle,” she says of the schedule of a touring band. “Some people have to work a lot harder to make ends meet.”

The band has stayed busy since recording its first single in 2008, releasing two albums and an E.P. when not touring the world.

Bryan (somehow!) found a few minutes to talk to amNewYork about the band’s new album, “Wolf’s Law,” before their pair of upcoming shows this week.

Do you worry about the pace your band keeps? We never think of music and touring as a job. It helps keep us very much alive. When it felt like a routine or a bore, that’s when we’d worry. But when making this record we felt an energy, like a new beginning. It depends on how you view things.

Much of this album was recorded in the wilderness in Maine. How did that contrast with past ones? We’ve always written on the road, grabbing moments in hotel rooms or on the bus or backstage. It can be chaotic. For [“Wolf’s Law,”] we were looking for a complete contrast from the road — quiet, isolated.

Better choice for a SXSW secret show: Prince or Justin Timberlake? We hardly [had] time to see anything. You get to see some great bands on your own bills, but that’s about it. … But I’d be at the Prince show, of course.