Sadness Sets Me Free

Sadness Sets Me Free is the eighth studio album by Welsh musician Gruff Rhys, released on 26 January 2024 through Rough Trade Records. It was recorded in three days in March 2022 in Paris, and received positive reviews from critics.

Recording
Recording took place at La Frette studio in Paris, France, where Rhys and his band recorded the album in three days in March 2022.

Critical reception
Sadness Sets Me Free received a score of 85 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on four critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Mojo's James McNair wrote that "though it stops well short of the ardent self-loathing that fired Radiohead's Creep, a pronounced seam of self-criticism runs through" the album, despite concluding that "the music is often uplifting; a stoical and pro-active salve against troubles local and global". Uncut's Pete Paphides observed that "on an album of songs that 'feel melancholic or... deal with shit things,' it's important to state that, at no point, does the listener feel like they're taking a holiday in someone else's misery". Reviewing the album for The Irish Times, Siobhán Kane felt that the album "can sound both disconcerting and comforting".

Joe Muggs of The Arts Desk found the songs to have a "subdued nature" but called them "so damn good, they could take a lot more lavishness and sparkle. As it is, though, this is a weird, inspiring and very lovely record". Nathan Whittle of Louder Than War wrote that on Sadness Sets Me Free, "Gruff Rhys delivers a spellbindingly oxymoronic display; the low-key nature of the songs results in grandness, the darkness of the content providing hope". MusicOMH's Ben Hogwood opined regarding the song titles that "on paper, songs of this ilk should be weighing the listener down, but the reality is different as Rhys realises his ideas in music of blissful freedom".

Personnel

 * Gruff Rhys – vocals, production
 * Maxime Kosinetz – production, mixing
 * Chab – mastering
 * Gwenllian Hâf MacDonald – studio musician
 * Huw V. Williams – studio musician
 * Jess Feaver – studio musician
 * Kliph Scurlock – studio musician
 * Martin Gwilym-Jones – studio musician
 * Osian Gwynedd – studio musician
 * Rebecca Jones – studio musician
 * Rhodri Brooks – studio musician (tracks 1, 8, 9)
 * Kate Stables – studio musician (tracks 1, 8, 10)
 * Pedro Barrios – studio musician (tracks 3, 6, 7)
 * Gavin Fitzjohn – studio musician (tracks 4, 10)