Erstwhile teenage voice of an angel, now occasional television presenter, Charlotte Church has returned behind the microphone for the snappily titled Kicking Back With The Cardiffians. Eschewing the usual celebrity-on-celebrity format, this weekly podcast promises a laidback and authentic series of conversations between Church and her friends and family, exploring working-class life in the Welsh capital. 

She begins by interviewing her father, James, whose humour and warmth is immediately endearing. Discussions range from his upbringing in the Canton area of Cardiff in the 1970s to his diagnosis with AL amyloidosis seven years ago. The following episodes turn to Church’s lifelong friend, Kyla Scott, and then her mother, Maria. Both prove engaging, though the second episode starts shakily with Church and Scott swept up in giddy nostalgic reveries, temporarily relegating us to the periphery of their tight-knit bond.

There is always the risk, in such intimate family stories, of completely alienating the listener. Yet when James speaks of his life philosophy in the face of a terminal illness, or Maria talks about her struggles as a young single mother, there is little evidence of self-indulgent sentimentality, only heartfelt and universal wisdom. It may be tempting to see Kicking Back With The Cardiffians as a vanity project on Church’s part, but doing so ignores the podcast’s greatest strength. As a document of familial love and a paean to Cardiff, it reminds each listener to savour the stories of their own loved ones and the places that have shaped them.

New episodes of Kicking Back With The Cardiffians available every Thursday on BBC Sounds.