A welcome departure from one of Welsh music's greatest talents.
Last updated: 25 November 2008
2004 was a relatively quiet year for Super Furry Animals, with just a Ffa Coffi Pawb best-of, an SFA best-of, the recording of their seventh studio album in Brazil and various international promotional activities to their name.
Tracklist
- Yr Atal Genhedlaeth
- Gwn Mi Wn
- Epynt
- Rhagluniaeth Ysgafn
- Pwdin Ŵy 1
- Pwdin Ŵy 2
- Y Gwybodusion
- Caerffosiaeth
- Ambell Waith
- Ni Yw Y Byd
- Chwarae'n Troi'n Chwerw
Somewhere away from all that, though, frontman Gruff Rhys found time to record his first solo album, Yr Atal Genhedlaeth (The Stuttering Generation). These 10 Welsh-language songs (plus eight-second title track) originated from a collection of demos Rhys recorded in 2003, and cover such subjects as a fictional city, fatal disease, and two MCs who battle with bows and arrows that shoot words.
"It came together quite accidentally," says Rhys. "I didn't plan to make a record. I put about 20 songs down, and it became apparent that about five of them sounded finished. They were pretty simple but they didn't need working on."
The result is an often exquisite half-hour in which Rhys plays all the instruments, aside from Edwin Humphries' trumpet solo on Ambell Waith and a brief banjo coda by co-producer Gorwel Owen.
Those Furries fans who prefer the immediacy of Mwng to the highly polished Rings Around The World and Phantom Power will drink in the instant gratification offered by Yr Atal Genhedlaeth. Pdwin Ŵy 1 could have appeared on Mwng alongside Ymaelodi A'r Ymylon, and Ambell Waith is a blissful ballad in the vein of Gathering Moss or Bleed Forever.
The singalong Epynt and Gwn Mi Wn are songs destined to become modern Welsh classics, as is Ni Yw Y Byd, six key changes notwithstanding. Less conventional, however, is the experimental Caerffosiaeth, which with sampled vocals and programmed beats sounds a little too much like a studio demo.
On SFA's forthcoming album Love Kraft, Gruff reportedly sings just half of the 12 songs, with Cian, Daf and Bunf performing lead vocals on two each. Whether the release of Yr Atal Genhedlaeth will encourage further solo work among the Furries remains to be seen, though Rhys has said, "I'm considering splitting up after this record. I'm not sure exactly where, horizontally, or vertically." If this is his final solo record it'll be a great shame indeed.
Words: Joe Goodden
