Super Furries Land On XL/Beggars

NEW YORK (Top 40 Charts) - Welsh experimental pop quintet Super Furry Animals has found a North American home for its fifth album, "Rings Around the World." The set will see stateside release in March on XL Recordings/Beggars Banquet Group, also home to such acts as Badly Drawn Boy and Basement Jaxx. Released on Epic U.K. this past July, "Rings" debuted at No. 3 on the U.K. album chart, produced three singles, and was nominated for the U.K.'s prestigious Mercury Music Prize.

"Rings" is a glossy, widescreen condensation of the Super Furries' many talents, mixed in 5.1 surround sound, with material ranging from meditative, acoustic rock to raging electronica and features cameo appearances by Paul McCartney and John Cale. As previously reported, the album will be simultaneously released with a DVD featuring films for each of the album's songs, bonus short films and songs, remixes, and more.

SFA is tentatively planning a North American tour in February to precede the album's release. As lead singer/songwriter Gruff Rhys told Billboard in July, the performances may be structured around weekends in major cities, with acoustic shows spanning the group's career, "Rings"-focused electric shows, and a "club night" with the band serving as DJs.

The group has had a tumultuous history with North American labels. Its first album, 1996's "Fuzzy Logic" was released on Columbia, but its follow-up, 1997's "Radiator," didn't see U.S. release for two years until independent label Flydaddy picked it up and released both "Radiator" and third album "Guerrilla" in 1999. The Welsh-language "Mwng" followed in 2000, seeing release on Flydaddy in the U.S. and the band's own Placid Casual label in the U.K. But Flydaddy subsequently folded operations, leaving the group without a U.S. home for "Rings."