Super Furry Animals fans have limited time to hear first-ever song recorded with Rhys Ifans in 1993
Band was originally fronted by the actor until Gruff Rhys took over on singing duties
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Your support makes all the difference.Super Furry Animals have shared a previously unreleased track, “Of No Fixed Identity”, for the first time in almost 30 years.
The first song ever recorded by the Welsh band, featuring actor Rhys Ifans on vocal duties, was surprise-released to Bandcamp for a limited time.
“Never revisited after recording, and put to tape at the same time as an early version of the headline-making, 1996 single, ‘The Man Don’t Give A F*ck’, the track features numerous trademarks familiar to Furry fans around the world,” a press release said.
“Combining West-Coast harmony-rich psychedelia, garage rock and swathes of synths, Ifans puts in a commanding performance, with Gruff Rhys and Daf Ieuan’s backing vocals pointing the way to the place that Super Furry Animals eventually exploded from.”
The song was announced by the band to support the Save the Severn campaign, which calls for an end to the “reckless” dumping of sediment from the site of discharges from a nuclear power station.
A percentage of the proceeds will go towards funding the campaign group’s judicial review hearing versus the Marine Management Organisation and energy giants EDF.
“Our first, ever recorded work is out, in part an exploration of the past and in part a criticism of the present and a future where corporate interests are prioritised ahead of health, wellbeing and the natural world,” a statement from the band said.
“Please download the track, support the cause and rediscover the considerable singing talents of Mr Rhys Ifans.”
Ifans briefly fronted Super Furry Animals before departing to pursue his acting career, with Gruff Rhys taking over singing duties.
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The song was recorded at the studio of the band’s long-term collaborator, Gorwel Owen, on Ynys Môn in the summer of 1993.
To hear “Of No Fixed Identity” before it disappears, visit the group’s page on the Bandcamp website.
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