Image by Dave W Clarke via FlickrTripping across a Technicolour countryside, swirls of psychedelic mist tugging at your ankles as a parade of fantastical animals troops behind you. What's that coming over the hill? Yes, it's another solo album from perennial indiepopper Gruff Rhys.Hotel Shampoo delivers another full quota of melodic sunshine. It's not straight up whimsy though. As you'd expect from the Super Furry Animal's front man there's a twist to the creativity and a wry, witty darkness to the lyric.
There is as much jingle and jangle as you'd expect with a catchy refrain thrown in here and there (Christopher Columbus) but the laid back vibe crosses the line into what sounds dangerously like apathy a couple of times too (Rubble Rubble).
The memory of a picture of a ghost of a SFA song runs around the edges of the songs but there are other unexpected phantoms too. At The Heart of Love sweetly touches up to The Auteurs Junk Shop Clothes but rebounds off in a, while not entirely new, unrelated direction.
It's not massively different terrain from the soundscapes Gruff has led us through before but this familiarity doesn't breed contempt. There are enough tweaks to the craft to make it interesting for those that have enjoyed the trip before while being a gentle voyage to break in first timers.
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