Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo

(Turnstile)

Currently on a break from his day job with the mighty Super Furry Animals, the prolific Rhys remains incapable of disappointing. This third solo album is low-key, but plenty of pristine pop moments present themselves: the horn-driven, Latin-tinged ‘Sensations in the Dark’, which riffs on The Temptations’ ‘Get Ready’; ‘Vitamin K’s West Coast country melancholy; the psychedelic Pet Sounds wash of ‘Sophie Softly’; ‘At the Heart of Love’ and particularly ‘If We Were Words (We Would Rhyme)’s kind, romantic heart. Kudos is also due for the brazen saxophone part during ‘Christopher Columbus’ – the mark of a maverick, as if Rhys still needs identifying as such.