Gruff Rhys Details Soundtrack for Elijah Wood's 'Set Fire to the Stars'

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Aug 8, 2016

Two years removed from his multi-faceted project American Interior, Super Furry Animals vocalist Gruff Rhys has set his sights on film scoring with a forthcoming soundtrack release. Written for Andy Goddard's Set Fire to the Stars, the collection will arrive late next month.

The film about the life and work of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas and stars Elijah Wood, who also makes an appearance on the soundtrack. A press release reveals that the film's musical companion was recorded around the same time as American Interior, calling the new effort "equal parts cocktail jazz, hazy Americana and Atomic Age bop...a love letter to New York in all its hopeful, post-war glory." 

Playing guitar himself, Rhys formed what he calls an "agro-jazz" quartet with drummer Chris Walmsley, double-bassist Jim Barr and pianist Osian Gwynedd to complete the record. Gruff ab Arwel arranged strings, while Gavin Fitzjohn scored and performed parts for brass.

"As the film is shot in black and white and set in the jazz age, I decided not to use any instruments unavailable in that era," Rhys explained in a statement. "I also keep the recordings as live takes. Beyond that — I didn't try and ape the style of that era in particular apart from the song 'Atom Bomb,' which on screen, plays on a jukebox in a cafe and needed to be true to the year sonically and lyrically in some way." 

Rhys' soundtrack for ​Set Fire to the Stars is set to arrive September 30 through Finders Keepers' Twisted Nerve imprint. Read through the record's tracklist below, where you'll also find the record's title track.

Set Fire to the Stars
:

1. John Malcolm Brinnin
2. Set Fire To The Stars
3. After Hours/Panic
4. Tremble (Down)
5. Tremble To The Light
6. Tremble (Up)
7. After Hours/Tension
8. Log Cabin 1
9. Log Cabin 2
10. Log Cabin 3
11. John Adoring At Yale
12. Set Fire To The Strings
13. After Hours/Tender
14. John & The Poem
15. B Chop Shop
16. Atom Bomb
17. After Hours/Contentment
18. Ticking Clock
19. Military Madness
20. Caitlin's Theme
21. Tremble (Joy)
22. Dylan's Demons
23. It Was Hot That Summer (ft. Elijah Wood)

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