Podcast: Gruff Rhys exclusive [MP3]

TIMESONLINE: Pete Paphides meets Gruff Rhys [MP3], sometimes of Super Furry Animals, and Lisa Gen, who sings on Candylion, Gruff's second solo album. Recorded on Anglesey, the album took three weeks to make, a fraction of what most recordings take. Gruff reveals that he finds travelling the best time for song ideas; he wrote the album's 15-minute long last track Skylon while sitting next to a C-list celebrity on an aeroplane. Every vinyl version of the album includes a flatpack version of the Candylion character, and Gruff promises that without screws this'll be easier to assemble than the usual Ikea effort. As well as fasinating chat, you can hear Gruff play Circle of Violence - a song influenced by rolling news and the Iraq war - live in the studio for the first time since the Green Man Festival.