On Friday last, Super Furry Animals released a compilation of early rarities. A significant and welcome chapter of the Welsh heroes’ great Supercabra return, Precreation Percolation, available in mint green or red vinyl, features the two Ankst EPs Moog Droog and Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllantysiliogogogochynygofod. Rumour has it there’s a classic classy black vinyl version floating around somewhere, the format of true love. Coloured vinyl was a thing in 2016 when SFA last played shows but hardly the default format it is today. How the (rings around the) world has changed.
It’s tempting to go full-on nostalgia wank over the Super Furries’ reunion. Do you remember when. When. When. And yet, and yet… when the Supercabra Tour was announced last year it was no comeback in the conventional sense. SFA never really go away, do they? The band remain a constant reassuring presence whether the members themselves are active as a unit or not — and fixed in Welsh music’s DNA, on hiatus or not.
With the Super Furries themselves in Glasgow last weekend enjoying two sold-out nights at The Barrowlands, the romantics amongst us at the Focus Wales showcase festival in Wrexham saw the new blood of Welsh music carrying the torch in spirit and practice. The freedom to be a bit weird and think outside any comfortable box. The added confidence to sing in Welsh — or even write, record or sing at all. Taking a look at being trendy – whatever that means – and letting it pass, going for quality and instinct instead.
Sage Todz brought with him to Wrexham not only a slick and smooth band The Problem Solvers, but a serious soul vocal game. Quite the surprise, and a welcome one — singers like him are rare. Very much looking forward to learning what he does with that voice in the coming months and years.
Mari Mathias solved problems herself with her magical melodic traditional folk, sharing dark and light stories from history. Young Welsh wizards Dewin displayed wit, theatre and a brass section. Psychedelic-pop satirical storytelling of problematic frogs and deserts, and the understated theremin and clarinet made for a genuinely exciting 30 minutes. So many layers to peel back with this band. Praise The Dewin indeed.
Ynys delivered a greatest hits package from the first two albums and performed the best version ever of Aros Amdanat Ti, the glow from that performance triumphant and infectious. And on top of that, a musical gift box opened right up — an as-yet unnamed song darker, gunslinger-bold guitar with a massive pop chorus. Album number three is gestating this summer. Welsh national treasures KEYS brought Acid Communism to the party, a psych-prog-pop showcase reminding us in the festival’s dying hours of the value of community and bonds. Bloody. Great. Songs. Really felt that one.
It would be remiss to leave out the spoken word segment of Focus Wales courtesy of Wrexham’s Voicebox. Lisa O’Hare heightened emotions with her gorgeous tearjerker love letter to the city, and tribute to her teen gig-going pleasures. Sophia McIntyre’s glorious piss take of those viewing two women in a same sex relationship as a life of fluffy pillow fights and plaiting each other’s hair was an absolute zinger.
Technology is a blessing and a curse sword for creatives and consumers. AI – not a big thing a decade ago — creates stuff not really there, if you get what I mean. No need of that nonsense or carry on for Osgled; duetting with an authentic crackly recording of her late grandmother is always a thing to witness. Her inventiveness intrigues.
Modern-day Pied Piper Otto Aday (for the record — he doesn’t steal children, rather his tremendous vocal range pulls people in from all around) saved blushes by serenading us with the touching and tender Indescribable You; bare naked vocals and guitar alone while technical things got sorted onstage behind him. Why Horses?’ drummer stuck on a train meant Freddie of Spirited Followers fame stood in for a chunk of the post punk art pop outfit’s set. Such instinctive comradeship reminds of the story Gruff Rhys tells of a 1990s leather trousered record company exec who berated him for smiling too much — because it’s not cool, see. The thing is, niceness is much more preferable. It’s the vibe we’re all after.
To flick through SFA albums over the last few days, placing each on the turntable one after another and sitting back as the stylus rides the spiral, is to be re-reminded of possibilities. Opting for the no limits approach. Adventurers going that extra mile. Be as creative as you want and dive deep — why not? What is there to lose? Conversations over the weekend in Wrexham were peppered with ‘where are you seeing Super Furries?’, nods of approval at whatever the answer is. Because it’s all good. It really is. And darting from set to set, venue to venue, we found further rich goodness — new and independent Welsh music in rude (and polite!) health.
