"It's his first solo record. To me, in a way, it is a funny record. He is such a talented musician and it is quite a modest record in that it is stripped-down – he plays everything on it – and it is just drums, guitar and bass, and, of course, vocals. But, even though he stripped it down you cannot strip away the fact that he is just supremely talented and has got such an incredible use of melody and hooks. I love the attitude. He had a rule that he could only do five takes and when I was getting to know him and was completely in awe of him, I remember asking him ""but what if you didn't get a good enough take?"" He just laughed and said, ""Well, we just put loads of reverb on it"" and I thought that was such an incredible attitude to have. Also, it is a Welsh language record and although Welsh and English are equally my first languages, I have always struggled writing in Welsh. Gruff has just got this ability to write these lyrics that are so meaningful but whole-sounding and faithful. I am totally in awe of his Welsh lyricism. For me, Welsh is such a difficult language to write in and this is my favourite Welsh language record. Since I was 13 I have been a huge fan of Super Furry Animals and of Gruff. He's just an incredible man and being around that wonderful playful attitude in his music is something I am so glad I was exposed to at that point in my life."

"Again, this is a really recent discovery. I was touring with Kevin Morby in America and we were talking about maybe trying to do a cover together at the end of the night. He kept talking about this guy called Bill Fay and kept telling me to listen to this album. He kept at it and eventually said, ""Can I play you Bill Fay, because I don't know why you have never heard of him? This album is like a classic record."" So, Kevin put some songs on and I remember thinking, ""Shit – this is incredible!"" and then to learn that Bill is a British musician and had made an album that is as classic as this record but I had never heard of him was a huge surprise. It wasn't an album that was in the tapestry – like a record by David Bowie that you would have heard of. The songwriting and musicianship on the album is amazing and this seems like a classic story of being dropped by a record label after a second album - this was the second record he'd made. I don't understand how he could have been dropped – you listen to this album and it contains some of the best-written songs ever. There is a song on it called 'I Hear You Calling' which is really poignant and beautiful and arresting. The album as a whole is just perfect – it's an absolute classic and to me it should be a staple in anyone's collection. I'm just glad I finally discovered it and am just sorry it took that long."

"The thing about The Beatles, whether or not you think they’re good, as an introduction into like pop music, experimental music and avant garde music, it’s literally like every album is one of those text books you had at school, Beatles 1, then Beatles 2, then you’re ready to more on to Beatles 3. There’s some of their records that with hindsight weren’t particularly interesting, but The White Album is kind of mad. Often you remember it as better than it is, but as a product of what’s possible in terms of releasing music as a hugely popular band, what you can do if you want to do it, I think it’s a really brilliant thing. Without them having done that, someone else would have had to make that idea a reality for the world of music. And it’s got some really good tracks on it! I do think it’s becoming more and more acceptable to dislike the Beatles and that’s what I’m saying – you can totally not like them, but you’ll struggle to find another band that will teach you about music in such a beautiful way. The curious thing about The Beatles, speaking as a musician, is that everything you thought was magic, isn’t magic. They had press and radio people, people to create this event when they arrived in America, it wasn’t this spontaneous thing. I remember watching the Beatles anthology when it came out and finding it incredible, then I watched it recently and it feels really horrible. And you know that they themselves weren’t necessarily nice people, I feel duped!"