Emily

A little while ago, I wrote about the folk artist Emily Bindinger, who mononymously released an album and some singles in the 70s and 80s, and I mentioned I found her accidentally. Well, now I'm revealing how that happened. I was digging up info on Emily, the band Gruff Rhys was in before Super Furry Animals, and, not surprisingly, stumbled upon Ms. Bindinger instead.

Let's talk about the Welsh act for a minute now.



Emily began in the mid-80s and mostly recorded laid-back, melancholic folk cross-pollinated with the jangly indie pop of the era. Rhys, who was on drums, is hard to pick out, but he's there!

Edwyn Collins switching to the acoustic and unplugging the amp. Also makes me think of groups like Close Lobsters, but I can't quite place why.


Emily released an EP, Irony, on Creation, but their first album, 1990's Rub Al Khali, came out on a small imprint called Everlasting.

No matter: Rhys went on to start Ffa Coffi Pawb, a more popular outfit that felt very much like SFA's precursor—for one, he sang; for two, he sang in Welsch; for three, their sound was decidedly psychedelic and paisley in hue—and he eventually made his way back to Creation with SFA. All's well that ends well.

A poscript: One of the other founders of SFA was Rhys' brother, Cian Ciarán, who left his acid techno trio called WWZZ to join. Who says lo-fi house is a new movement?