Dark Days/Light Years

Singer and chief lyric writer Gruff Rhys has claimed that "The Very Best of Neil Diamond" is about how you can't choose the soundtrack to your life" while "Inaugural Trams" is "a celebratory anthem regarding the opening of a new tram line in a fictitious utopian mainland Europe town". The current economic downturn is referenced briefly in songs such as "Inaugural Trams" and "Inconvenience". Rhys has described the writing process as "very collaborative". == Musical style ==

According to Rhys the band made a "conscious decision really was not to include the slow numbers" on Dark Days/Light Years going on to state that "There are not a whole lot of chords in these songs; they're not as song-based in the conventional song writing. They've been developed out of band jams, but it turned out sounding like songs pretty much anyway". == Critical reception ==

Dark Days/Light Years received generally positive reviews, with Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, giving the album a score of 84 denoting "universal acclaim". == Track listing ==

The following people contributed to Dark Days/Light Years: Band • Gruff Rhys – vocals, guitar, electric saz, vocoder, keyboard • Huw Bunford – guitar, bass guitar, electric saz, vocals • Guto Pryce – bass guitar • Cian Ciaran – keyboards, electronics, guitar, vocals • Dafydd Ieuan – drums, vocals Additional musicians • Nick McCarthy – spoken word on "Inaugural Trams" • Kris Jenkins – percussion • Jessica Rochman – strings Recording personnel • Chris Shaw – co-producer, mixing, engineering • Super Furry Animals – co-producer • Dave Newfeld – recording of intro to "Crazy Naked Girls" (Miraval Studios) • Stuart Hawkes – mastering (Metropolis Mastering) Artwork • Keiichi Tanaami – artwork • Pete Fowler – artwork == Accolades ==