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Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) Shares New Song “Limited Edition Heart” and Announces Tour Babelsberg Due Out June 8 via Rough Trade

Gruff Rhys, Welsh frontman of Britpop outliers and survivors Super Furry Animals, is releasing a new solo album, Babelsberg, on June 8 via Rough Trade. The album was recorded with the 72-piece BBC National Orchestra of Wales and he previously shared a video for its first single, "Frontier Man" (which was one of our Songs of the Week). Now he has shared another song from the album, "Limited Edition Heart." He has also announced some tour dates, including some U.S. and Canadian ones in October. Check out the song and tour dates below.

"Limited Edition Heart" was shared via an amusing black & white looped animated lyric video featuring Donald Trump sitting at a table with Jesus and taking photos of him with his phone.

Rhys had this to say about the song in a press release: "I wrote 'Limited Edition Heart' whilst walking along a polluted yet beautiful river. It has beautiful orchestral arrangements thanks to Stephen McNeff and the BBC NOW orchestra."

Babelsberg's songs were originally recorded in a quick three-day session in 2016 at producer Ali Chant's studio just before it was demolished and featured drummer Kliph Scurlock (ex-Flaming Lips), along with multi-instrumentalists Stephen Black (aka Sweet Baboo) and Osian Gwynedd. Then 18 months later Swansea based composer Stephen McNeff finished orchestral scores for the songs and the album was completed with the 72-piece BBC National Orchestra of Wales.

Rhys had this to say about the album in a previous press release: "I'd made a note of the word 'Babelsberg' after driving past a sign when I was on tour in 2014. Cut to a few years later and the studio where I recorded the album was being knocked down just a week after I finished to make way for a 'luxury' apartment development. I was looking for a name that evoked the Tower of Babel - people building towers to reach an idea of heaven (but maybe creating a kind of hell - I'm an atheist by the way!) In any case I had written Babelsberg down and when I listened to the songs together, it finally made sense why I'd done that."

Rhys' last solo album was 2014's American Interior (which was also a documentary film, a book, and an app).

Read our 2015 interview with Gruff Rhys about American Interior.

Gruff Rhys Tour Dates:

June 10th - Cardiff, Wales - Millenium Centre (w/BBC National Orchestra Of Wales)

June 13th - London, UK - Rough Trade East

Aug 30-Sept 2 - Salisbury, UK - End Of The Road Festival

Sept 12th - London, UK - Barbican (with the London Contemporary Orchestra)

Sept 15th - Manchester, UK - RNCM Concert Hall (with the RNCM Orchestra)

Sept 16th - Manchester, UK - RNCM Concert Hall (with the RNCM Orchestra)

Oct 5th - Montreal, QUE - The Ritz

Oct 6th - Toronto, ONT - Garrison

Oct 8th - Boston, MA - Great Scott

Oct 9th - Brooklyn, NY - Rough Trade

Oct 10th - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's

Oct 11th - Washington, DC - DC9

Oct 12th - Pittsburgh, PA - Funhouse

Oct 13th - Columbus, OH - Ace Of Cups

Oct 14th - Chicago, IL - Chop Shop

Oct 16th - Minneapolis, MN - Cedar Cultural Center

Oct 19th - Vancouver, BC - Fox Cabaret

Oct 20th - Seattle, WA - Barboza

Oct 21st - Portland, OR - Doug Fir

Oct 23rd - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel

Oct 24th - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo

Nov 8th - Portsmouth, UK - Wedgewood Rooms

Nov 9th - Brighton, UK - The Old Market

Nov 10th - Folkestone, UK - The Quarterhouse

Nov 11th - Oxford, UK - O2 Academy

Nov 12th - Bristol, UK - SWX

Nov 13th - Birmingham, UK - Glee Club

Nov 15th - Glasgow, Scotland - SWG3

Nov 16th - Leeds, UK - Church Leeds

Nov 17th - Liverpool, UK - Arts Club

Nov 19th - Paris, France - Le Badaboum

Nov 20th - Schaffhausen, Switzerland - Tap Tab

Nov 21st - Munich, Germany - Ampere

Nov 22nd - Berlin, Germany - Privatclub

Nov 23rd - Hamburg, Germany - Turmzimmer

Nov 24th - Copenhagen, Denmark - Alice

Nov 26th - Brussels, Belgium - Botanique/Rotonde

Nov 27th - Cologne, Germany - Studio 672

Nov 28th - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Noord

Nov 30th - Other Voices

Dec 1st - Cork, Ireland - Live At St.Lukes

Dec 2nd - Galway, Ireland - Roisin Dublin

Dec 3rd - Dublin, Ireland - Button Factory

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