Uncut UK – October 2019

MARK

JAMES

OCTOBER 2019 • UNCUT• 37

NEW ALBUMS

TWENTYyearsago,
SuperFurryAnimals
releasedGuerrilla,
a technicolour,
hyperactivepop
album– oratleast
thequintet’stwisted
ideaofa popalbum– lacedwithmanic
electronicbeats,Caribbeantextures,
BeachBoysharmoniesandsongsabout
chewinggumandmobilephones.Viewed
from2019,it seemedtopredictthemelting
potofglobalinfluencesthatmakeup
mainstreampoptoday,evenif nosingle
artisthascreatedsomethingquiteso
wonderfullyderangedas“TheDoorTo
ThisHouseRemainsOpen”.
Sincethenthough,SFAandGruffRhys
havesteppedbackfromthebrinkof
suchcolourfulexperimentation.Rhys’
lastthreesoloalbums– 2011’sHotel
Shampoo, 2014’sAmericanInteriorand
2018’sBabelsberg– excellentasthey
were,foundRhysmininga statelier,
slowersoundinspiredbypianoballads,
Americanaandorchestralchamberpop.
Just 15 monthsafterBabelsberg, however,
he’sunleashingPang!, whichquickens
thetemposandembracesthecollaged
grandeurofelectronicpopmusicina way
thatRhyshasn’tinyears.
CrucialtothesoundofPang!is South
AfricanproducerMuzi,whoRhysmet
whilebothparticipatedinthemostrecent
instalmentofDamonAlbarn’sAfrica
Expressproject.Muziremixed“BaeBae
Bae”,includedhere,andRhyswasso
pleasedwiththeresultthattheyagreed
toworktogetheronhislatestsetofideas.
Babelsberg, of course, was recorded as

stripped-downtracksthatwerelater

toppedwitha lavishlayerofclassical

orchestration,andPang!followsa

similarprocess:thistime,however,

theicingonthesparse,mainlyacoustic

cakecomesfromMuzi’ssynthsand

beats.Songslikethetitletrackand

“AraDeg(Ddaw’rAwen)”aredrivenby

a mixoflivedrums,playedbyformer

FlamingLipKliphScurlock(nowthe

Furries’archivist,amongotherthings),

andprocessed,skippingbeats,Rhys’

acousticguitar,Muzi’ssynthsandthe

occasionalburstofbalafon,anAfrican

xylophone-likeinstrument.

There’salsoa liltingTropicaliafeel

tomuchoftherecordwhich,Rhystells

Uncut, stemsfromSuperFurryAnimals’

LoveKraftmixingsessioninBrazilin

2005,andbledintohisexcellent 2007

soloalbumCandylion. Withtheirrootless

bossanovachords,thetitletrackand

“NiwlO Anwiredd”inparticularcould

belostCaetanoVelosotracks,withRhys’

spiderynylon-stringpartsaugmentedby

a webofdiceddrumsandjazzytrumpet.

Asthealbumprogresses,thingsget

stranger,thetreatmentsincreasingly

adventurous:on“ÔlBys/NodauClust”,

Muzierasespracticallyalltheacoustic

instruments, leaving Rhys’ Gregorian

vocalsbeautifullyadriftina seaof

percussionandreverb.Meanwhile,during

theclosing“AnneddImDanedd”,clicking

drumsandmulti-trackedbrassare

theonlyinstrumentsbackingRhys’

harmonisedvocals.

If it’snotalreadyapparentfromthetitles,

Pang!is entirelyinWelsh,forthefirsttime

acrossa wholealbumsinceRhys’ 2005

solodebut,YrAtalGenhedlaeth. WhenSFA

releasedMwngin2000,theuseofWelsh

ina chartingalbumwassonotableit was

mentionedinparliament;today,artists

suchasBTSandRosaliasingintheir

nativelanguagesandregularlymakeit

highintoEnglish-speakingchartsaround

theworld,whileclosertohome,Gwenno

hasmanagedtocarveouta successful

solocareersingingonlyinWelshand

Cornish.Theonlydrawbackhereforthose

ofuswhocan’tspeakWelsh,ofcourse,

is thatwemissRhys’witty,Gainsbourg-

esquewordplay:“Digidigol”,explains

thesongwriter,is a nonsenseversionof

theWelshfor“digital”,“digidol”,while

“EliHaul”translatesas“sunscreen”,the

effectsoftheheatreflectedinthelyrics.“I

wastryingtowritelyricsthatsoundlike

they’vebeenbakedbythesun,”Rhystells

Uncut. “Theybecomeabstract,likethe

song’smeltingorsomething.”

Thepinnacleofthealbum’smixof

RhysandMuzi’sstylesoccurson“Niwl

O Anwiredd”.Thebasisofthesongis an

acousticfolklamentthatrecallsSuper

FurryAnimals’“ColoniseTheMoon”,

verydroning,veryBritishIsles;butit

gatherssheetsofotherinstrumentsas

it progresses,fromdigitalbeatsand

Indiantabla,tomassedvocals,balafon

andsomekindofelectronicharpswell.

Here,then,is a meetingofcontinents

andhemispheres,ofdifferentcultures

perfectlycomplementingeachotherin

three-and-a-halfminutes.

WhilePang!, totallingjustunderhalf

anhour,doesn’thavetheconceptual

strengthsofBabelsbergorAmerican

Interior, it’sneverthelessa delightto

hearRhysonceagainembracingthe

possibilitiesoftechnologyand

harnessingmodern,globalsounds

toenhance his unique vision.

GruffRhysonmulti-

lingualco-producers

andPrince’sashes

WasMuziespecially

keentoworkona set

ofWelshsongs?

I thinkhespeakssix

languages.Whenhecame

toCardiffhelovedhearing

conversationsgofrom

WelshtoEnglishandback

again,becauseit reminded

himofhislinguisticreality.So

hewasencouragingmore

Welshin thesongs,which

wasgreat.I likedhisremixof

“Bae Bae Bae” so much and

suggesteddoinga whole

record,andhesaid,“Isit allin

Welsh?”“Yeah.”“Great!”But

it wasn’ta heavyideological

conversation or anything.

WhyisPang!so

compact?

I thinkit makesthealbum

morepalatable;people

cangettoknowthesongs

withoutrealising,and

hopefullyplayit again.

You’vesaidthatPrince

influencedtherecord...

Justbeforewestarted

recording the bulkofPang!,

I visitedPaisleyPark.On

somethinglikeAround

TheWorldIn A Dayhe

wasmakingquitedigital

psychedelia,andit gotme

enthusiasticaboutmaking

a poprecord.Thesleeve

is a referencetoPrince

• PaisleyParkis likea big
  B&Q,it couldbea Futurist
  gardencentre,andwhen
  youwalkin,Prince’sashes
  arein a Perspexboxnexttoa
  cageoflivedoves,andthen
  there’sa blueskywithclouds
  paintedontheceiling.Quite
  a profoundeffect!
  INTERVIEW: TOM PINNOCK

SLEEVENOTES

1 Pang!

2 BaeBaeBae

3 Digidigol

4 AraDeg

(D d aw ’rAwe n)

5 EliHaul

6 NiwlO

Anwiredd

7 TaranauMai

8 OlBys/ Nodau

Clust

9 AnneddIm

Danedd

Producedby:

Muzi,Gruff

Rhys

Recordedat:

WingsFor

Jesus& Splice

studios,Cardiff;

Muzi’sstudio,

Johannesburg

Personnel

includes:Gruff

Rhys(voca l s,

guitar,bass),

Muzi(beats,

programming,

vocals),Kliph

Scurlock

(drums),Gavin

Fitzjohn,Rob

Smith,Catherine

Morgan(brass),

KrisJenkins

(percussion,

f l u te) ,N ’ F a m a d y

Kouyaté

(b a l a fo n)

Q&A

GRUFF RHYS

Pang! ROUGH TRADE

8/10

Soloalbumsixis short,synthy,Tropicalia

tinged and sung in Welsh. By Tom Pinnock