Gruff Rhys

Gruff Rhys is a touring songwriter and recording artist based in Cardiff, Wales who has consistently sought a variety of outlets for a wide spectrum of creative ideas that include 26 studio albums to date.

Renowned for their blissful melodies, his solo albums have explored untapped areas musically and lyrically. His first, 2005’s Yr Atal Genhedlaeth, revelled in Welsh language puns; Candylion and Hotel Shampoo followed soon, both experimental pop albums of international renown.

2014’s American Interior followed the unbelievable journey of 18th century cartographer John Evans; Signing to Rough Trade records, Babelsberg offered a baroque take on the modern world in 2018; while a year later Pang! created a multi-lingual mash-up, driven by folkish bleeps crafted in collaboration with Zulu artist-producer Muzi. The Top Ten charting Seeking New Gods climbed fresh lyrical and musical terrain, a conceptual record about his own mountain and became his most critically and commercially successful solo album yet. 2024 saw the release of its follow up, the widescreen, baroque pop ‘Sadness Sets Me Free’. Recorded on the outskirts of Paris with his band, it garnered further rave reviews and was widely acclaimed to be amongst his finest work. 2025 sees the release of his latest Welsh language album Dim Probs.

Gruff Rhys has been releasing records since 1988 with his first band Ffa Coffi Pawb before becoming well known as the frontman of Super Furry Animals – a band that has been able to achieve that rarest of mixes – artistic adventure with popular devotion – blending fuzz-filed rock, pure harmonies and cutting edge electronics.

He also found time to form a synth duo with producer Boom Bip, Neon Neon, documenting the lives of maverick car maker John DeLorean and Italian activist and publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli in widescreen style over two biographical albums for Lex records.

In between his own long form recordings, Gruff has collaborated with a myriad of other artists, including Gorillaz, Africa Express, Mogwai, Sparklehorse, Danger Mouse, Sabrina Salerno and Imarhan. In addition he has authored two books, multiple cinema and video game soundtracks, an opera, plus created music for a trio of stage shows and devised two feature documentaries.

As a multi-faceted artist, the notion of ‘suis generis’ has never applied more aptly.

Presented by Crosstown Concerts. Header image – Ryan Eddleston