A decade could have handed between albums, however Iwan Rheon by no means really left the artistic orbit. Finest identified to international audiences as an Olivier-winning stage actor and because the unforgettable antagonist Ramsay Bolton on Sport of Thrones, Rheon’s musical return isn’t marked by fanfare—however by one thing much more fascinating.
Now, his long-awaited second full-length album, I Simply Want I’d By no means Gone To Area (out now through AWAL Recordings), lands with a dry, darkly witty wink. It’s not a comeback—it’s a continuation, filtered by way of time, expertise, and a pointy, satirical gaze on ego, isolation, and the quiet mess of being human.
The Billionaire in Orbit
The lead single, “Hashtag,” launches the album with satirical chew—sharp, punchy, and eerily on-point in as we speak’s world. Set towards a muscular pop-rock backdrop, it imagines a tech billionaire drifting endlessly by way of area, his fortune meaningless within the void.
“I used to be watching some tech billionaire’s phallic rocket taking off,” Rheon says dryly. “And I remembered vaguely, one thing about Newton’s legal guidelines of movement—how, in a vacuum, the speed of an object will at all times keep the identical. So if something goes incorrect on the market, they’ll be simply floating away endlessly.”
The picture amused him: somebody with unimaginable wealth, all of the sudden so powerless. “I may simply think about this billionaire floating round, all his wealth on Earth pointless, and he’s wishing he’d by no means gone to area.” The absurdity struck a nerve. That imaginative and prescient caught, advanced right into a metaphor, and finally crystallized into the track that gave the album its identify.
Writing From the Margins
Though I Simply Want I’d By no means Gone To Area comes practically a decade after Dinard, Iwan Rheon by no means really stopped writing. “I by no means actually deliberate to have this large hiatus,” he displays. “It’s simply form of the best way issues occurred. Appearing roles got here alongside.” However at the same time as scripts took priority, music by no means disappeared—it merely moved to the margins. Over the previous 5 years, songwriting grew to become a quiet, regular rhythm within the background, till the artistic buildup may now not be ignored.
“It will get to a degree the place you simply must get the music out, in any other case it simply lives in your head. And that’s not essentially wholesome,” he says. Ultimately, returning to the studio felt inevitable—and welcome. “It was beautiful to get again within the studio and file some new tunes.”
Songs That Stayed, Songs That Didn’t
Nonetheless, not every part written throughout that interval discovered a spot on the ultimate tracklist. A couple of songs, formed throughout a breakup that coincided with the pandemic, have been consciously put aside. “There have been just a few songs that I didn’t really feel I wished on this album as a result of I assume loads modified since then, and I wished to do one thing a bit extra forward-thinking and related to now,” Rheon explains.
Some remnants of that period linger—“Fever” and “Get together” particularly carry echoes of that earlier chapter, although even these span completely different timelines. “The latter is a very outdated track, nevertheless it felt related,” he provides. The result’s an album formed by reflection —one which nods to the previous with out being outlined by it. No, this isn’t a breakup album; it’s one thing extra delicate. It charts a quiet transformation, a shift towards the current.
Crafting Area: Sound & Collaboration
Produced in collaboration with Chris Hyson and that includes Welsh twin musicians Lloyd and Alex Haines, I Simply Want I’d By no means Gone To Area is a sonically numerous but emotionally cohesive physique of labor. From the biting satire of “Hashtag” to the swelling optimism of “Ahead Movement,” the album toggles between irony and intimacy, with out ever straying from its emotional core. “The sound got here collectively within the room,” Rheon remembers. Practically each monitor—“all aside from ‘Agor’”—was already written earlier than he entered the studio.
The remainder unfolded organically, by way of intuition and shared musical language. “Chris and I mentioned numerous references, bands and artists we preferred,” he explains. “He actually will get it, and I actually loved creating the sound with him.” Very similar to the themes, the emotional contrasts weren’t premeditated both. “I don’t assume you actually know what you’re gonna begin writing about till you begin,” he displays. “The songs and themes simply form of occur.”
In Welsh, Inward
Two tracks—“Agor” and “Y Gwenyn”—bookend the album in Welsh, anchoring the undertaking in Rheon’s heritage and providing a quieter, extra introspective sort of emotional launch. “Welsh undoubtedly provides me a distinct freedom with writing,” he shares.
“It’s like accessing a distinct a part of me.” Although he didn’t plan for “Agor” to be bilingual—or to open the file—as soon as it was completed, it merely felt proper. “It felt like the proper opening,” he provides. “Y Gwenyn,” alternatively, was at all times destined to convey the album gently to an in depth.
Character vs. Self
Although a lot of the album feels intimately autobiographical, Rheon carves out a stunning detour with “Hashtag”—a biting, satirical monitor voiced by way of the persona of an absurd tech billionaire. It’s a uncommon second of character-driven storytelling for him, and one which supplied surprising artistic distance. “It’s one thing I don’t actually do that always, writing from the angle of a distinct character,” he admits.
“So it’s sort of liberating in a means—trying on the scenario from the surface. However I feel it really helps with the absurdity of it, writing within the first particular person.” Nonetheless, no character is ever fully separate. “It might be unimaginable to say there aren’t components of my private experiences inside this one.”
The Vulnerability of Artistic Management
What makes I Simply Want I’d By no means Gone To Area land with such readability is how unmistakably handcrafted it feels. Iwan Rheon wasn’t simply the voice or face of the album—he was within the thick of each resolution, from songwriting and arranging to manufacturing itself. “There’s nowhere to cover,” he says, acknowledging the vulnerability of such deep involvement. “However I assume that’s empowering.”
For Rheon, music is as a lot concerning the course of because the product—a uncommon area the place he isn’t simply deciphering another person’s imaginative and prescient, as he usually does on display screen, however steering the whole artistic ship. “Having that artistic management is actually vital to me,” he says. “I actually get pleasure from each a part of creating an album.” It helps, too, when collaboration clicks—particularly with producer Chris Hyson, whose partnership introduced instinctive synergy to the file’s sound.
From Ramsay to ‘Males Up’: Navigating Roles
On display screen, Iwan Rheon continues to maneuver fluidly between contrasting worlds. From the uncooked tenderness of BBC’s “Males Up” to the blood-and-sand chaos of “These About to Die”, he gravitates towards roles that spark one thing visceral.
What guides his decisions? A quiet, inside click on.
“You learn a script with an fascinating character,” he explains, “after which instinctively begin excited about the way you play the position—and that’s at all times signal.” It’s much less a system than a gut-level recognition, one which has lengthy formed his assorted and unpredictable display screen trajectory.
Ramsay Bolton: Ghosts of Westeros
After all, for a lot of, Iwan Rheon will at all times be remembered as Ramsay Bolton—the merciless, calculating and sadistic villain of “Sport of Thrones”, who grew to become one among tv’s most terrifying figures. It’s a legacy he carries with out letting it weigh him down. “I strive to not take the characters house. I feel it’s actually vital to go away them within the room,” he says. “I’ve at all times been fairly good at doing that. It’s simply enjoying.”
When requested whether or not Ramsay was misunderstood, he doesn’t sugarcoat it: “Undecided if there’s a lot to be misunderstood about him. He was a really dangerous boy.” Spoken like somebody who’s lengthy since made peace with the ghosts of Westeros.
The Stillness Between Tasks
Nonetheless, there’s usually a wierd weight that follows as soon as a undertaking ends, not fairly the character, however one thing more durable to outline. “The final is a form of shadow of the character that would linger,” Rheon admits, “however I feel it’s usually simply the depth of the work—the dedication, focus and vitality that goes into creating one thing.”
When that abruptly vanishes, it leaves a peculiar void. “It’s at all times a bit unusual if you’re now not doing it,” he provides, matter-of-factly. That’s the place music is available in—not as escape, however as tether. “It’s an exquisite strategy to stay artistic after I’m not on set.”
Solitude, Stillness, and Tune
In contrast to performing, which he describes as “a small a part of one thing a lot larger… a cog in an enormous machine,” music affords Rheon one thing extra private and sustained. “You are available within the center, when a lot work has already gone into attending to that stage. Then after I end my bit, there’s a complete load of labor left to finish the undertaking.”
In distinction, songwriting is a full-circle course of—begin to end, soul to floor. “It’s a couple of single artistic concept that I’m part of from starting to finish,” he says. “I get pleasure from having the whole artistic management.”
Within the quiet stretch between scripts and periods, Rheon gravitates towards simplicity. No highlight, no strain, simply the world as it’s. “I like strolling round in woods or a cliff aspect or no matter,” he shares, nearly offhandedly. “Making music is definitely one of many issues that I really like doing as effectively. Even simply sitting by myself in a room enjoying the guitar.” There’s peace in that solitude. Within the smooth ritual of being alone with sound. Or, generally, not being alone in any respect. “Hanging out with associates, household,” he provides. That, too, is sufficient.
The Album Belongs to the Listeners Now
Now that “I Simply Want I’d By no means Gone To Area” is lastly out on the earth—streaming, spinning, echoing throughout headphones—Iwan Rheon is preserving it grounded. “I’m simply actually happy to have made it,” he says. “And I hope that folks can sit again and luxuriate in it and get one thing out of it, no matter which may be.”
He hints at reside performances forward. “Some reveals could be nice. We did just a few tunes on a reside session just a few months again so that they’ll be launched—and let’s see about every part else.” For now, the album belongs to the listeners.
And possibly, someplace, even a lonely billionaire is listening from orbit. Stream now!
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