Dark Days/Light Years

Dark Days/Light Years, the ninth studio album by Super Furry Animals, was released on the 21st of April on Rough Trade Records. The album's title is taken from a lyric in the song "Moped Eyes" ("dark days seem light years away"). Many of the songs on the album are based around riffs and grooves the band have been working on for several years and features only one slow song which "isn't slow at all". The statement went on to claim that the saxophone and lap steel guitar have been consigned to the "banned instrument directive of the SFA board" with drummer Dafydd Ieuan apparently developing a phobia of the latter.". The band originally planned to record the album in Miraval, France like their previous effort Hey Venus!, but decided to record in Cardiff with a considerably lower budget than previous efforts. Longtime sleeve designer Pete Fowler collaborated with Hey Venus! artist Keiichi Tanaami to produce the album's artwork. The track "Inaugural Trams" includes spoken word German vocals by Franz Ferdinand's Nick McCarthy.