Gruff Rhys

Following on from his top 10 album ‘Seeking New Gods’ Gruff Rhys is pleased to announce his forthcoming soundtrack to the film ‘The Almond and the Seahorse’ via Rough Trade Records. The double album will be released digitally and on double deluxe LP on 24th February 2023.

The soundtrack will be released digitally and as a foil numbered, limited edition double-LP, on transparent yellow vinyl with a fold out film poster by acclaimed movie poster designer Akiko Stehrenberger, who also designed the album artwork, and digitally.

The 22-track album comprises original songs and instrumental score, all composed by Gruff Rhys. Recorded between 2021-2022 with a host of featured musicians including members of the National Orchestra of Wales, the music features throughout the forthcoming film of the same name, starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rebel Wilson and Celyn Jones.

The first track to be released from the record is “Amen” - a song that Gruff had written shortly before being approached to soundtrack the film: “the yearning and frustration of the song seemed to fit the themes of the film perfectly and the song soundtracks the emotional final payoff at the very end of the movie,” Rhys explains further. The song’s haunting, melodic piano lines became the main recurring musical motif for the drama, making it a fitting entry into the soundtrack’s world.

Set for release on 16th December, the film tells the story of archaeologist (Rebel Wilson) and an architect (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and their fight to re-imagine a future after a traumatic brain injury leaves them adrift from the people they love. The title of the film itself refers to the nicknames given to the parts of our brains that lay down new memories and hold on to the old ones.

Tonally, the soundtrack compliments the movie perfectly: the drama of the subject matter and the human relationships is counterbalanced by the film’s wry humour and lightness of touch, and the varied compositions and styles on Gruff Rhys’ score and compositions reflects that. “The soundtrack for The Almond & the Seahorse was recorded largely in pandemic conditions so it was a matter of recording in bursts of possible activity in various friends’ studios, homes and even scout halls as chance permitted. It’s a varied quilt work as a result. “Gruff notes. “As sonic flagpoles I wanted to signify the film’s location in Liverpool and the Wirral by liberally, but hopefully not too obviously, using the Mellotron synthesizer (as famously used in Strawberry Fields by the Beatles & therefore in my mind it represents that great city sonically) and the Cello as a nod to its use by Gwen’s character in the film.”

“I was encouraged by Mike Jones the editor to take things to a more acoustic, emotional and ragged place. That, I hope, roughly explains the trajectory of the recording and how the varied music contained in this record came about. I hope you enjoy this colorful scrapbook of a soundtrack and get a chance to watch the film”.