Sadness Sets Me Free
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Sadness Sets Me Free
| type = studio
| artist = Gruff Rhys
| cover = Gruff Rhys - Sadness Sets Me Free.png
| alt = A partially animated scene of Rhys sitting in a wood-panelled room facing a TV, with the album title in yellow neon above the TV
| released = {{Start date|2024|01|26|df=y}}
| recorded = March 2022
| studio = La Frette, Paris, France
| genre = Psych-pop
| length = 42:37
| label = Rough Trade
| producer =
- Gruff Rhys
- Maxime Kosinetz
| prev_title = Seeking New Gods
| prev_year = 2021
| next_title =
| next_year =
| misc =
}}
Sadness Sets Me Free is the eighth studio album by Welsh musician Gruff Rhys, released on 26 January 2024 through Rough Trade Records. It was recorded in three days in March 2022 in Paris, and received positive reviews from critics.
Recording
Recording took place at La Frette studio in Paris, France, where Rhys and his band recorded the album in three days in March 2022.
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| MC = 85/100{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/sadness-sets-me-free/gruff-rhys|title=Sadness Sets Me Free by Gruff Rhys Reviews and Tracks|website=Metacritic|access-date=26 January 2024}}
| rev1 = The Arts Desk
| rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web|url=https://theartsdesk.com/new-music/album-gruff-rhys-sadness-sets-me-free|title=Album: Gruff Rhys – Sadness Sets Me Free review – Dreamy, low key agit prop from the enduringly exploratory Super Furry Animal|website=The Arts Desk|last=Muggs|first=Joe|date=24 January 2024|access-date=26 January 2024}}
| rev2 = The Irish Times
| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/review/2024/01/25/gruff-rhys-sadness-sets-me-free-cosmic-loneliness-has-rarely-sounded-so-good/|title=Gruff Rhys: Sadness Sets Me Free – Cosmic loneliness has rarely sounded so good|newspaper=The Irish Times|last=Kane|first=Siobhán|date=24 January 2024|access-date=26 January 2024}}
| rev3 = Louder Than War
| rev3score = 4/5{{cite web|url=https://louderthanwar.com/gruff-rhys-sadness-sets-me-free-album-review/|title=Gruff Rhys: Sadness Sets Me Free – Album Review|website=Louder Than War|last=Whittle|first=Nathan|date=24 January 2024|access-date=26 January 2024}}
| rev4 = Mojo
| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.mojo4music.com/articles/new-music/gruff-rhys-sadness-sets-me-free-review-confessional-box-ruminations-meet-jukebox-melodies-on-the-former-super-furry-animals-latest/|title=Gruff Rhys Sadness Sets Me Free Review: Confessional box ruminations meet jukebox melodies on the former Super Furry Animal's latest|magazine=Mojo|last=McNair|first=James|date=25 January 2024|access-date=26 January 2024}}
| rev5 = MusicOMH
| rev5score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|url=https://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/gruff-rhys-sadness-sets-me-free|title=Gruff Rhys – Sadness Sets Me Free {{!}} Album Reviews|website=MusicOMH|last=Hogwood|first=Ben|date=25 January 2024|access-date=26 January 2024}}
| rev6 = Uncut
| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/gruff-rhys-sadness-sets-me-free-144794/|title=Gruff Rhys – Sadness Sets Me Free|magazine=Uncut|last=Paphides|first=Pete|date=12 January 2024|access-date=26 January 2024}}
}}
Sadness Sets Me Free received a score of 85 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on four critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Mojo{{'}}s James McNair wrote that "though it stops well short of the ardent self-loathing that fired Radiohead's Creep, a pronounced seam of self-criticism runs through" the album, despite concluding that "the music is often uplifting; a stoical and pro-active salve against troubles local and global". Uncut{{'}}s Pete Paphides observed that "on an album of songs that 'feel melancholic or... deal with shit things,' it's important to state that, at no point, does the listener feel like they're taking a holiday in someone else's misery". Reviewing the album for The Irish Times, Siobhán Kane felt that the album "can sound both disconcerting and comforting".
Joe Muggs of The Arts Desk found the songs to have a "subdued nature" but called them "so damn good, they could take a lot more lavishness and sparkle. As it is, though, this is a weird, inspiring and very lovely record". Nathan Whittle of Louder Than War wrote that on Sadness Sets Me Free, "Gruff Rhys delivers a spellbindingly oxymoronic display; the low-key nature of the songs results in grandness, the darkness of the content providing hope". MusicOMH{{'}}s Ben Hogwood opined regarding the song titles that "on paper, songs of this ilk should be weighing the listener down, but the reality is different as Rhys realises his ideas in music of blissful freedom".
=Year-end lists=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ Select year-end rankings for Sadness Sets Me Free ! scope="col"| Publication/critic ! scope="col"| Accolade ! scope="col"| Rank ! scope="col" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference}} |
| scope="row" |MOJO
| 75 Best Albums of 2024 | style="text-align: center;" |21 | style="text-align: center;" |{{Cite web |date=November 11, 2024 |title=MOJO's 75 Best Albums of 2024 |url=https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/2292-mojos-75-best-albums-of-2024/2 |access-date=November 13, 2024 |website=albumoftheyear.org}} |
|---|
Track listing
{{Track listing
| headline = Sadness Sets Me Free track listing
| all_writing = Gruff Rhys
| title1 = Sadness Sets Me Free
| length1 = 5:23
| title2 = Bad Friend
| length2 = 2:54
| title3 = Celestial Candyfloss
| length3 = 3:58
| title4 = Silver Lining (Lead Balloons)
| length4 = 3:58
| title5 = On the Far Side of the Dollar
| length5 = 4:54
| title6 = They Sold My Home to Build a Skyscraper
| length6 = 3:04
| title7 = Peace Signs
| length7 = 5:05
| title8 = Cover Up the Cover Up
| length8 = 5:48
| title9 = I Tendered My Resignation
| length9 = 5:07
| title10 = I'll Keep Singing
| length10 = 2:26
| total_length = 42:37
}}
Personnel
- Gruff Rhys – vocals, production
- Maxime Kosinetz – production, mixing
- Chab – mastering
- Gwenllian Hâf MacDonald – studio musician
- Huw V. Williams – studio musician
- Jess Feaver – studio musician
- Kliph Scurlock – studio musician
- Martin Gwilym-Jones – studio musician
- Osian Gwynedd – studio musician
- Rebecca Jones – studio musician
- Rhodri Brooks – studio musician (tracks 1, 8, 9)
- Kate Stables – studio musician (tracks 1, 8, 10)
- Pedro Barrios – studio musician (tracks 3, 6, 7)
- Gavin Fitzjohn – studio musician (tracks 4, 10)
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Chart performance for Sadness Sets Me Free ! scope="col"| Chart (2024) ! scope="col"| Peak |
| {{album chart|Scotland|7|date=20240202|rowheader=true|access-date=3 February 2024}} |
| {{album chart|UK2|22|date=20240202|rowheader=true|access-date=2 February 2024}} |
| {{album chart|UKIndependent|5|date=20240202|rowheader=true|access-date=3 February 2024}} |