Gruff Rhys has released a new live session, premiered on mojo4music.com. It finds the former Super Furry Animal playing three songs from his recent Top 10 album, Seeking New Gods, at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth.
Seeking New Gods is Rhys’ seventh solo record, written as a concept album about Mount Paektu, a desolate volcano bordering China and North Korea. The sessions showcase live versions of Mausoleum Of My Former Self, Hiking in Lightning and Loan Your Loneliness.
To announce the recordings, Rhys said:
“Here’s a few Seeking New Gods songs recorded live at Rockfield last month. We may look terrified as, after one rehearsal it was the first time we had played the songs for almost three years in some instances - since the recording of the album. Muscle memory is an extraordinary thing and rest assured we’re dancing inside. Listen out for the phased Solina on Hiking in Lightning.”
You can listen to the Gruff Rhys - Live at Rockfield Studios now below:
Seeking New Gods received four stars from MOJO, reviewer Victoria Segal writing:
“With records about 18th century Welsh explorers and American car magnates under his belt, Gruff Rhys is no stranger to the concept album. Seeking New Gods is the highest yet, though, inspired by Mount Paektu, the volcano on the China-North Korea border. Contested land, volatile states, imminent extinction: these songs blur boundaries between the geopolitical and the psychological, crossing melancholy landscapes with a knapsack full of sustaining melodies and oxygen-rich synthesisers. As on 2018’s Babelsberg and 2019’s Pang!, Rhys excels at holding anxiety and unease up to the light without becoming harsh; Seeking New Gods keeps that balance beautifully. Onwards and upwards.”
Seeking New Gods is out now on Rough Trade Records. Listen at: https://gruffrhys.ffm.to/seekingnewgods
You can also see Gruff Rhys on on tour this Autumn, tickets available from www.GruffRhys.com
Tour Dates
7/2-7/4 – Swadlincote, UK @ Timber Festival 2021
9/3 – 9/5 – Moseley, UK @ Moseley Folk & Arts Festival 2021
10/7 – Wrexham, UK @ Focus Wales 2021
10/21 – Sheffield, UK @ Crookes Club
10/22 – Cambridge, UK @ Storey’s Field Centre
10/23 – Manchester, UK @ Albert Hall
10/26 – Oxford, UK @ O2 Academy 2 Oxford
10/27 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
10/29 – Limerick, IE @ Dolan’s Warehouse
10/30 – Dublin, IE @ Liberty Hall Theatre
11/01 – Bath, UK @ Komedia Bath
11/02 – Southsea, UK @ Wedgewood Rooms
11/03 – Norwich, UK @ Norwich Arts Centre
To discover How To Buy Super Furry Animals, see the brand new issue of MOJO, available here https://www.greatmagazines.co.uk/mojo-333-
Pictures: Mark James