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Review: Gruff Rhys – Seeking New Gods

Without going out on too much of a limb, Seeking New Gods is probably this month’s only new album based on Mount Paektu, an active volcano in East Asia. Of course, it hails from the fertile mind of Gruff Rhys.

Rhys’ songs have always explored the topics that no other songwriter dared to commit to, and few would even contemplate. That’s not his charm, though. It’s that the songs are melodically beautiful and joyfully uplifting. Every track has at least a snippet that will see you smile, while ‘Loan Your Loneliness’ musically hints at his past with glee.

And yes, ‘Hiking In Lighting’ is as spikily cheerful as you’d hope for a song bearing that name. For many of us who are getting on a bit now, Rhys will always be a hero. He doesn’t dwell on this though, and Seeking New Gods is a very worthy addition to a canon of material that still has the capacity to blow people away.

Seeking New Gods is released 21st May via Rough Trade Records

Photo credit: Mark James

Read our interview with Gruff Rhys where he discusses Seeking New Gods

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