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Nov 07, 2023 By Mark Redfern Photography by Mark James

Gruff Rhys, Welsh frontman of Super Furry Animals, is releasing a new solo album, Sadness Sets Me Free, on January 26, 2024 via Rough Trade. Now he has shared its second single, the horn-backed “Silver Lining Lead Balloons.” Listen below, followed by Rhys’ upcoming tour dates.

Rhys had this to say about the song in a press release: “It’s about facing reality and not trying to overstate something that isn’t all that. But it’s deadpan. I’m not being totally serious. At the end I’m singing ‘I left my dreams in a rental car,’ which is quite a pathetic image, and then it’s followed by the last lines, ‘Live for now/and dream afar.’ The version of me that’s singing it is quite a road-worn character—literally. I’d been driving around Europe in a van, with war starting out. So maybe that mindset.”

Previously Rhys shared the album’s first single, “Celestial Candyfloss,” via a music video. “Celestial Candyfloss” was one of our Songs of the Week.

Rhys’ backing band on the album features Osian Gwynedd (piano), Huw V Williams (double bass), and former Flaming Lips drummer Kliph Scurlock (drums). Sadness Sets Me Free was recorded at La Frette Studios, a studio on the outskirts of Paris in a 19th-century house. The initial recordings were done in only three days. Kate Stables from This is the Kit contributed backing vocals (Rhys produced This is the Kit’s latest album, Careful of Your Keepers, which came out in June). Sadness Sets Me Free is the 25th album Rhys has released, taking into account Super Furry Animals, his solo work, and various side-projects.

“At this point I quite like working with serendipity,” he says. “Not in a cosmic way, [but] I try and leave things open to chance encounters and chance geography. As I’m around 25 albums in I’m always looking for ways to make a different-sounding record.”

Back in February, Rhys released the soundtrack for the film The Almond and the Seahorse via Rough Trade. His last regular solo album was 2021’s Seeking New Gods. It was one of our Top 100 Albums of the 2021. In 2022 he also shared the new songs “People Are Pissed” and “Arogldarth.” “People Are Pissed” was one of our Songs of the Week.

Read our 2015 interview with Gruff Rhys.

Gruff Rhys Tour Dates:

December 1st – Glasgow Barrowlands w/ The Coral
December 2nd – Liverpool Olympia w/ The Coral
January 26th – 1st February – UK Instore Tour
February 2nd – Aberystwyth, Arts Centre
February 7th - London, Kings Place (Sold Out)
February 8th - London, Kings Place
February 10th - Manchester, New Century Hall (Sold Out)
February 14th - Belfast, Empire Music Hall
February 15th - Dublin, Sugar Club (Sold Out)
February 16th - Dublin, Sugar Club
February 19th - Glasgow, St Lukes
February 22nd - Bristol, Strange Brew (Sold Out)
February 23rd - Bristol, Strange Brew
February 24th - Narberth, Queens Hall.
February 28th - Berlin, Badehaus
February 29th - Hamburg, Nachtasyl
March 2nd - Koln, Theater De Wogngemeinschaft
March 3rd - Amsterdam, Zonzij

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