Hotel Shampoo is the third solo album by Welsh musician and Super Furry Animals front-man Gruff Rhys. It was released on 14 February 2011 through Onvi Records/Turnstile (in the UK) and Wichita (in the US) and peaked at number forty-two on the UK Albums Chart. The album includes the singles "Shark Ridden Waters", "Sensations In The Dark", "Honey All Over" and "Space Dust #2"; the latter of which is collaboration with Sarah Assbring and Miles Kane. The album won the 2011 Welsh Music Prize and the Album of the Year award at the Artrocker Awards 2011.

Hotel Shampoo
Studio album by
Released14 February 2011
RecordedRecorded for the most part at OFN, Llanfaelog, Wales 2010[citation needed]
GenreAlternative rock
Length40:16
LabelOvni Records/Turnstile (UK), Wichita (US), Hostess Entertainment Unlimited (JP)
ProducerGorwel Owen, Gruff Rhys, Andy Votel
Gruff Rhys chronology
Candylion
(2007)
Hotel Shampoo
(2011)
American Interior
(2014)
Singles from Hotel Shampoo
  1. "Shark Ridden Waters" b/w "I Totally Understand"
    Released: October 2010
  2. "Sensations In The Dark" b/w "Follow The Sunflower Trail (Theme Tune For a National Strike)"
    Released: February 2011
  3. "Honey All Over" b/w "Xenodocheionology"
    Released: May 2011
  4. "Space Dust #2" b/w "Whale Trail"
    Released: October 2011
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic74/100[2]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Drowned In Sound[1]
The Independent[3]

The title of the record is a reference to Gruff’s habit of hoarding mini shampoo bottles and other complimentary hotel products whilst on tour, and the miniature hotel he built from them in advance of the record's announcement.

Samples

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The track "Shark Ridden Waters" is built around a sample of "It Doesn't Matter Anymore", as performed by The Cyrkle.[5]

Track listing

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Floor 1
No.TitleLength
1."Shark Ridden Waters"4:25
2."Honey All Over"3:18
3."Sensations In The Dark"2:42
4."Vitamin K"3:06
5."Take a Sentence"3:05
6."Conservation Conversation"2:40
7."Sophie Softly"2:11
Floor 2
No.TitleLength
8."Christopher Columbus"3:33
9."Space Dust #2"2:20
10."At The Heart Of Love"3:34
11."Patterns of Power"3:37
12."If We Were Words (We Would Rhyme)"3:13
13."Rubble Rubble"2:53
International bonus tracks (Floor 3)

14. "I Totally Understand" - 3:40 (US, Japan and Taiwan) 15. "Follow The Sunflower Trail (Theme Tune For A National Strike)" - 4:12 (US and Japan) 16. "Pengwyn Pengwyn" - 1:34 (Taiwan)

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart Peak
UK Albums Chart[6] 42

References

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  1. ^ Lavery, Aaron (9 February 2011). "Gruff Rhys - Hotel Shampoo / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drownedinsound.com. Archived from the original on 2 December 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  2. ^ "Hotel Shampoo - Gruff Rhys". metacritic.com. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  3. ^ Andy Gill (11 February 2011). "Album: Gruff Rhys, Hotel Shampoo (Ovni (Turnstile)) - Reviews - Music". The Independent. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  4. ^ Hotel Shampoo (Review) at AllMusic. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  5. ^ Marie Wood (1 March 2011). "DiS meets Gruff Rhys". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 5 March 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
  6. ^ "GRUFF RHYS | Artist". Official Charts. Retrieved 13 August 2014.