Gruff Rhys follows a series of sold out gigs played with full orchestras in Cardiff, London and Manchester with a new video for ‘Selfies in the Sunset’ (the closing track from his hugely acclaimed fifth album Babelsberg).
Directed and animated by Ewan Jones Morris, the video for ‘Selfies in the Sunset‘ was and features Gruff and guest singer Lily Cole creating Animojis ahead of the apocalypse. Of the track, Gruff writes:
A couple of years ago I noticed some smiling, healthy looking young people taking selfies in front of a particularly spectacular sunset, I turned around to walk away only to see another sunset in front of me.
I realised the first sunset was just the glow looming above a chemical plant. Still, the selfies would have looked like they were taken in California. (We weren’t in California).
It got me thinking about Armageddon. Maybe people will be taking selfies till the very end. They’ll be pretty spectacular and will feature the golden colours of the Sunset. With the acceleration of climate change maybe it is the end. A slow painful process not an event.
My friend Graham from South Shields was working with Lily Cole on some music a while back – there was some talk of me helping out in some way as a musician. “Nothing came of it – but I invited her to help me finish this song in any case, as she has a greater insight into the world of imagery. It turns out that her Mother is from Rhydaman and has been taking selfies since the 1960’s.
This isn’t a judgmental song about Selfies – Selfies aren’t the problem. They bring joy into this precarious life. It’s just a really sad song.
With sincerest apologies to Mel Gibson,
Gruff
Watch the new video below:
