9 Gruff Rhys American Interior TURNSTILE, 2014

You say: “Not just a beautiful album, Gruff also expanded the concept to include a great book and a film.” Sarah Stevens, via e-mail

As anyone who’s witnessed the band in a creative setting can attest, Super Furry Animals functioned on strictly democratic lines, with even minor decisions requiring collective agreement. Maybe this partly explains Gruff Rhys’ current preference for working solo. None of his albums will disappoint SFA fans, but the best entry points are 2011’s Hotel

Shampoo – a miniature jukebox refreshment of familiar Furry tropes – or this conceptual travelogue based on 18th century explorer John Evans, a distant relative of Rhys’, and his obsession with a mythical tribe of Welshspeaking native Americans. Its blend of cosmic frontier epic and downhome whimsy is profoundly moving.