A host of artists from across Wales have joined forces for a Super Furry Animals covers album. The two-volume digital release – dubbed Corona Logic in homage to the Furries’ 1996 debut LP Fuzzy Logic – will raise funds for Welsh homelessness charity Llamau. The album is the brainchild of designer Jon Mlynarsk, who previously convened similar covers’ collections in lockdown paying tribute to The Velvet Underground (Corona Underground), The Beatles (Corona Revolver) and David Bowie (Corona Stardust).
Get ready for 2 hours of @superfurry hits and hidden gems with our listening party for Corona Logic this Friday at 7pm!
The album is the brainchild of @jon_safari and is in aid of @LlamauUK
Free to download via Bandcamp from Friday, but please donate at https://t.co/ByWeXABrn5 pic.twitter.com/yLGe7uDpWB
— Welsh Music Podcast | Podlediad Miwsig Cymreig (@welshmusicpod) March 23, 2021
Mlynarsk spoke about the idea behind the album in an interview with Nation.Cymru, saying “The whole premise of this is that it gives musicians who don’t have anything to do because they’re in lockdown, it gives them something to do. It keeps them busy and gives them something to focus on. It also raises a few quid for a brilliant charity and it’s a nice way to say thank you to the Super Furries for being amazing.”
He added “I approached the bands and asked them to give me two song choices. I then gave them one song to work on, and worked so that there was no duplication. Everyone loved the idea, because let’s face it, everyone loves Super Furry Animals and was keen to pay tribute to them.”
28 different artists feature on the covers album, which is divided into two volumes of fourteen songs. Volume One includes contributions from 2019 Welsh Music Prize winners Adwaith (covering 1997 Super Furry Animals single Demons), Sheffield-based bilingual four-piece Sister Wives (covering Pan ddaw’r wawr from 2000 Welsh language album Mwng) and Carmarthen noise-poppers Los Blancos, who cover the Furries’ second single God! Show Me Magic. Volume One also features contributions from the likes of Dutch-Welsh singer-songwriter Accü; Swansea rockers Bandicoot; Cardiff-based post-punk outfit Sybs; Colorama vocalist Carwyn Ellis; and Wibidi, the side-project of former Super Furry Animals band members Dafydd Ieuan and Cian Ciaran.
Volume Two includes covers of the band’s stunning 2001 electronic soul-pop number Juxtapozed with U (performed by Church Village psychedelic rockers CVC); alleged tribute to hard-tackling Welsh midfielder Robbie Savage Golden Retriever (covered by Carys Eleri and Branwen Munn); and seminal 1996 track The Man Don’t Give a Fuck (performed by South Walian grunge-punk quartet Clwb Fuzz). Among the other contributors to Volume Two are Llanelli indie veterans The Hepburns; Boo Radleys guitarist Martin Carr; Merthyr rock collective Al Moses; and Scott Howells, formerly the frontman for Aberdare band The Broken Vinyl Club.
Corona Logic, which is accompanied by new artwork from longtime Super Furry Animals’ collaborator Pete Fowler, is available to stream and download on Bandcamp this Friday 26th March 2021. Whilst the band themselves remain on hiatus, singer Gruff Rhys is gearing up to release his seventh studio album as a solo artist. The new LP – Seeking New Gods – arrives on May 21st via Rough Trade, with Rhys unveiling lead single Loan Your Loneliness earlier this month.
Speaking to NME about the new record, the Haverfordwest-born troubadour said “The album is about people and the civilizations, and the spaces people inhabit over periods of time. How people come and go but the geology sticks around and changes more slowly. I think it’s about memory and time.“
