Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo

It’s hard to believe, but a whole four years have passed from the exquisitely childlike ‘Candylion’, the sophomore release from Gruff Rhys. So, it’s time to find out if our intrepid explorer on the good ship psychedelic indie pop has grown up at all during the intervening years. And I don’t know about you, but I sincerely hope not. Apparently, the initial intention during recording ‘Hotel Shampoo’ was to create an album of piano driven ballads but fortunately for all concerned, Gruff appears to have lost either concentration or inclination halfway through, so instead presents us with an album laden with love songs that, as one might expect from a man with a seemingly unending imagination, diverts into unexpected tangents along the way.

And whilst the piano is omnipresent throughout, the first aural awakening to behold on ‘Hotel Shampoo’ is that of seagulls squawking as they circle overhead, on opening track and lead single, ‘Shark Ridden Waters’. One of two Andy Votel produced tracks, it opens on a familiar territory for Rhys, with loops, samples - in this case from 60’s beatmasters, The Cyrkle - and soft vocals being played with to joyous effect. And when the mariachi drenched ‘Sensations In The Dark’ kicks in, laden with horns and an infectious samba beat, it’s hard to resist the temptation to check that it really is still winter outside. Because so far, it’s summer at ‘Hotel Shampoo’.

‘Vitamin K’, surely a contender for future single release, is drenched in melancholic heartbreak, as Rhys apparently laments a lost love (“all that matters is what happened to you, my love”), whilst wrapping us in a string section crescendo that even those pesky Mercury award victors Elbow would be proud of. Continuing the ‘album of love songs’ theme, ‘If We Were Words (We Would Rhyme)’ beautifully lays it’s claim to the “most obvious first wedding dance song penned by G. Rhys” since the Super Furry Animals unleashed ‘Fire In My Heart’.

However, ‘Hotel Shampoo’ is not an entirely perfect offering, indeed ‘Conservation Conversation’ makes for fairly uncomfortable listening, with it’s discords and a slightly, almost… disinterested (for want of a better word) sounding vocal from Rhys, and album closer ‘Rubble Rubble’ does little for this listener. Still, as a reward for our perseverance, we’re given ‘Space Dust #2’, the story of a one night stand at a seminar; “you couldn’t even look me in the eye” laments Scandinavian queen of lo-fi, El Perro Del Mar, “you had your sunglasses on”, retorts a sheepish Rhys.

Whilst an argument could certainly be made that this album doesn’t exactly push the boundaries of Gruff Rhys’ oeuvre, it’s not as innovative as Neon Neon’s ‘Stainless Style’, for example, but it does invite the notion that Rhys’ is an easy contender for National Treasure status, and not just of Wales. As we check out of ‘Hotel Shampoo’, let’s hope he doesn’t leave it so long next time. Because he’s worth it.