Sadness Sets Me Free, which climbed to number 22 in the UK charts when it was released in February, has now outsold all of his previous solo records. “It feels like people are enjoying it as well,” he says modestly. The 10 songs on the new album were recorded live at La Frette, a mansion near Paris. After 35 years of music-making, he’s keen to find new ways to surprise himself. “The reasons we were there were quite prosaic – that’s where the engineer suggested we go,” he explains.
“My music can be quite predictable in a melodic sense or very twee, so with my lyrics I have to make sure it doesn’t become too much of a confection or it becomes unlistenable,” he says. “Often the music’s so sweet I have to add some salt to it.” Sadness Sets Me continues Rhys’s Rhys’s creative partnership with the graphic artist Mark James, with James’ artwork extending beyond the record itself to projections for live shows.