Super Furry Animals - Love Kraft (20th anniversary) [2LP]

Love Kraft turns 20 this year, Super Furry Animals at their peak of lavish overproduction, spread across 2LPs for the anniversary.

By 2005, the Welsh band had already spent a decade proving that psychedelic pop could absorb just about anything without losing its footing: techno, prog, Beach Boys harmonies, all filtered through the deadpan warmth of Gruff Rhys. This record leaned more into lush, orchestrated arrangements than anything they'd done before, layering strings and vocals to create something closer to cinematic soft rock than the band's edgier earlier material. At the time, it confused some longtime fans and has since become one of their most quietly beloved records.

Zoom! opens the album on exactly the tranquil, cosmic scale that the entire record commits to. Lazer Beam is the closest thing here to a real single, a real hook wrapped in odd production choices that never threaten to soften it. Walk You Home carries real tenderness without falling into sentimentality, and Cloudberries closes the album on its most patient and atmospheric note, letting the arrangement do the work rather than seeking a grand finale.

Twenty years later, this is the SFA record that rewards patience the most. It turns out that maximalist instincts were worth following.