Achieving ’90s fame with Super Furry Animals, Gruff Rhys has worked with producer Boom Bip as Neon Neon since 2008, pursuing high-concept albums via a mix of dreamlike pop vocals and hard dance beats. Stainless Style chronicled the life of DeLorean creator John DeLorean, and the new album, Praxis Makes Perfect, tells the story of Italian left-wing publisher Giangiacomo Feltrinelli.
In the video for “Hammer & Sickle,” we’re shown a society drenched in equal parts sex and proscribed regularity. Libertine dinners reminiscent of Marquis de Sade’s Les 120 journées de Sodome mix with high fashion and vignettes of Feltrinelli writing, printing, and being pursued by assassins. It’s a surrealistic trip through Italian (alternative) history.