Super Busy Animal: Gruff Rhys reveals double album plans

He may be in the midst of promoting his 80s-styled Neon Neon collaboration with Boom Bip, but Super Furry Animals fans will be pleased to know that frontman Gruff Rhys is already planning not one but two albums of new material with his Cardiff cohorts.

"We've started a couple of records," Rhys told The Skinny this week. "We've got an instrumental one and an album of songs on the boil."

Asked if the other Super Furries were keen to get back into action, Rhys said: "They've all been busy. Baz, our drummer, is bringing a record out in September with his band The Peth, which he made with Rhys Ifans [he of Notting Hill/London hellraiser/Sienna's ex fame], who used to be in Super Furry Animals. So they're gonna do a tour as well."

That would likely stall any SFA activity until next year, but you can hardly begrudge Rhys some time off: in the past 18 months he's released the solo album Candylion, the Furries' last album Hey Venus and the Neon Neon LP Stainless Style, which is nominated in next month's Mercury Music Prize.

Rhys (that's Gruff, not Ifans) also predicted further collaborations with Boom Bip: "Well we've set up a way of working now so we just need the spark of an idea in the future. I think it would have to be extremely different, we've milked John Delorean for all he's got!"

Stay tuned for the full interview with Gruff Rhys - and his Neon Neon partner Boom Bip - in The Skinny.