Gruff Rhys Shares New Track ‘Bad Friend’, March US Tour Dates, New Album Sadness Sets Me Free Out January 26th
January 10, 2024
Gruff Rhys is pleased to share a new track and video, ‘Bad Friend’ – the third and final single from his upcoming album Sadness Sets Me Free, out January 26 on Rough Trade Records. Remarkably, Sadness Sets Me Free is the 25th album in Gruff Rhys’ prolific 35 year recording career.
Gruff says of his new track: “People always refer to ‘good friends’. This song is toying with the idea of the ‘bad friend’. Maybe a bad friend is still better than not being a friend at all. Some friends function better than others, but they’re not enemies. Within the structures of 21st-century life, the pressure on people’s time – and what we are expected to be able to perform in daily life – is so kaleidoscopic. If I could shorten the sentiments to one line, it would be ‘all in good time’. It’s me reaching out to friends through song because maybe I haven’t had the chance to go to their house or talk to them on the phone.”
The video was directed by Gruff’s long term co-creative visual mastermind Mark James, and filmed on location through Wales and at Hard Lines Coffee in Canton, Cardiff, Wales.
‘Bad Friend’ follows the huge success of opening track ‘Celestial Candyfloss’, a cosmic ear worm that has embedded itself across UK radio and in the hearts of people attending shows in the last month that have seen Gruff & his band tour with The Coral and headline their own sold out shows in Brighton and Sheffield. Today, Gruff announced a March US tour including a stop at SXSW in addition to a previously announced full UK tour. Gruff will also be heading up a sold-out in store / outstore tour the week of release and has confirmed festival appearances for Summer 2024.
Pre-Order “Sadness Sets Me Free”
Listen to the “Bad Friend” Single
February 2nd – Aberystwyth, Arts Centre
February 7th – London, Kings Place (Sold Out)
February 8th – London, Kings Place
February 10th – Manchester, New Century Hall (Sold Out)
February 14th – Belfast, Empire Music Hall
February 15th – Dublin, Sugar Club (Sold Out)
February 16th – Dublin, Sugar Club
February 17th – Liverpool, Hanger 34
February 19th – Glasgow, St Lukes
February 22nd – Bristol, Strange Brew (Sold Out)
February 23rd – Bristol, Strange Brew (Sold Out)
February 24th – Narberth, Queens Hall.
February 28th – Berlin, Badehaus
February 29th – Hamburg, Nachtasyl
March 2nd – Koln, Theater De Wogngemeinschaft
March 3rd – Amsterdam, Zonzij
March 5th– Paris, Solaris
March 8th – Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
March 9th – Washington, DC @ DC9
March 10th – Raleigh, NC @ Kings
March 11th – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
March 13th – Austin, TX @ SXSW
March 14th – Austin, TX @ SXSW
March 15th – Austin, TX @ SXSW
March 18th – Phoenix, AZ @ Dirty Drummer
March 19th – Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
March 20th – Los Angeles, CA @ Zebulon
March 23rd – Sacramento, CA @ Starlet Room
March 24th – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
March 26th – Portland, OR @ Mission Theatre
March 27th – Seattle, WA @ Barboza
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Featured Release
Gruff Rhys
Gruff Rhys - Sadness Sets me Free
26 January 2024
LPE / LP / CD / Digital
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