On Repeat: Gruff Rhys: "Candylion" [MP3]
When an album comes with a pink cartoon lion on its cover, you've got a pretty good idea what you're in for: Cheerful, trippy melodies and bouncy rhythms are a given. But what keeps the title track of Gruff Rhys' latest record from veering into twee territory (despite those adorable, cotton-candy glockenspiels) is the soulful guitar line that anchors it. Though it's played delicately, as if it were meant for a mid-60s Donovan record, the chords themselves could almost have been lifted from a Motown classic-- "Tracks of My Tears", anyone?
Plus, Rhys, who in his day job as
frontman for Super Furry Animals has never shown off his lush vocals so nakedly,
has one of those innately British (ok, Welsh) voices that melts like warm chocolate over a good melody-- which is good given the particularly gooey lines of childlike storytelling (e.g. "A
long time ago in a kingdom of candy") he sings here.
MP3: > Gruff Rhys: "Candylion"
[from Candylion; out now on Rough Trade]