Songfacts®:

• "Sadness Sets Me Free" is a honky-tonk lament about the hollowness of first-world comfort. Gruff Rhys' lyrics dig deep, confessing a yearning to break free from "vain and selfish ways."
• This introspective journey is both the opening and title track of Rhys' eighth album. It seems the weight of experience has brought a newfound focus.
  
  "'Sadness Sets Me Free' is a very singable title, so I just let that do the heavy lifting to start with," he told Uncut magazine. "As I get older, I feel it's more important to respect music's power to uplift and that tells you what you need to do."
• Sadness Sets Me Free was recorded in three days in March 2022 at La Frette Studios, a 19th century house on the outskirts of Paris.
• Rhys co-produced the album with Maxime Kosinetz, a sound engineer he met while working with Algerian desert rock outfit Imarhan.
  
  "Maxime knows how to record intimate vocals," he told The Sun. "I didn't have to shout and I could be restrained and understated as a singer. He could handle me almost whispering."