Super Furry Animals
Mwng

**The Super Furry Animals go back to basics for this their fourth studio album and follow up to the hugely successful Guerilla.**

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Not only is this album in their native language of Welsh, but it also has a live sound as if the album only took 40 minutes to record. Acoustic guitars and brass sections feature quite a lot on ‘Mwng’ whereas their last album ‘Guerilla’ was based around Cian’s Moog and the rest of his electric gizmos.

The album opens with ‘Drygioni’, with its cowbell rhythm, simple chorus, spaced out stylophone and distorted vocals, it makes an impressive start, but there are even better things to come. Like the breathtaking ‘Ymaelodi Â'r Ymylon’ with its looped guitar grooves, layered harmonies, handclap beats and Gruff’s gorgeous vocals it’s very Beach Boys-esque and probably one of this year's summer anthems. The recent single and perfect pop song ‘Ysbeidiau Helog’ sees the Sax and Trumpet come together for the first time, it’s a brisk and bubbly track where all the band are busy doing their thang, it shows just how talented all five band members are and how well they’ve gelled together over the years.

The beautiful cover of Datblygu’s ‘Y Teimlad’ is proof of how Gruff’s voice has improved compared to previous releases, his falsettos are now very similar to Brian Wilson’s who in my opinion was the one of the best vocalists of the last century. A darker side to SFA’s music is shown on ‘Sarn Helen’ the chant like vocals and ghostly howls create a great atmospheric track, their friends Mogwai might have been the inspiration behind the more sinister sound.

The Super Furries are the best band in the world, they have never really had a set sound and as long as they continue to experiment with different instruments, styles and sounds they’ll always be one step in front of the rest. This album won’t bettered this year... unless SFA decide to release another!