By Mike Stuart
27/08/2007
Hey Venus! sees pop jesters the Super Furry Animals proving themselves once again to be Wales' (if not the UK's) best musical export. Since their last album, the epic but flawed Love Kraft, the band have changed record labels and taken on a new producer. This is reflected in the new sound; gone are the more progrock leanings of Love Kraft and instead replaced with something more restrained, more cohesive and, let's face it, more fun. Infact, on first listed it may seem almost too restrained and lead you to believe that SFA are actually playing it safe on this one. Thankfully, this is not the case.
The bouncy 40-second opener 'The Gateway Song' serves as a great introduction to Hey Venus!- a largely upbeat collection of sundrenched pop psychedelica. First single 'Show Your Hand' follows this pattern with its infectiously repetitious chorus over softly-stummed guitar and sublime horns. 'Into the Night' is pure space rock, with its sci-fi electronics and tribal drumbeat, and Gruff Rhys crooning 'Shine through the milkyway'. As you would expect from that description, it's a belter. But perhaps the highlight of the album is the delightfully deranged 'Baby Ate My Eightball' - possibly the most upbeat overdose song ever written.
There is a supposed concept running through the record about a girl who moves to the big city, gets corrupted by the hedonistic lifestyle she takes on, and eventually is saved through true love. It might be useful to bear this in mind if you like the idea of the concept because, for better or worse, it's barely noticeable without hearing about it first.
All in all, Hey Venus! is a great record - but of course with SFA this doesn't come as much of a surprise. It may not quite be the 'speaker blowing LP' that we were promised and it doesn't quite reach the highs of Rings Around the World or Guerrilla. Then again, not many things do.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Hey Venus! is released in the UK on August 27th, 2007
David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
