A decade could have handed between albums, however Iwan Rheon by no means actually left the artistic orbit. Finest recognized 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 way more fascinating.
Now, his long-awaited second full-length album, I Simply Want I’d By no means Gone To House (out now by way of 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 at the moment’s world. Set in opposition to a muscular pop-rock backdrop, it imagines a tech billionaire drifting endlessly by way of house, 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 rate of an object will all the time keep the identical. So if something goes flawed on the market, they’ll be simply floating away without end.”
The picture amused him: somebody with unimaginable wealth, instantly 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 house.” The absurdity struck a nerve. That imaginative and prescient caught, advanced right into a metaphor, and finally crystallized into the music that gave the album its title.
Writing From the Margins
Though I Simply Want I’d By no means Gone To House comes practically a decade after Dinard, Iwan Rheon by no means actually stopped writing. “I by no means actually deliberate to have this big hiatus,” he displays. “It’s simply kind of the way in which issues occurred. Appearing roles got here alongside.” However whilst 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 not be ignored.
“It will get to some extent the place you simply have to 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 thing written throughout that interval discovered a spot on the ultimate tracklist. A number of songs, formed throughout a breakup that coincided with the pandemic, have been consciously put aside. “There have been a couple of songs that I didn’t really feel I needed on this album as a result of I assume lots modified since then, and I needed 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 extremely outdated music, however 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 refined. It charts a quiet transformation, a shift towards the current.
Crafting House: 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 House is a sonically various 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 recollects. Practically each observe—“all apart from ‘Agor’”—was already written earlier than he entered the studio.
The remaining unfolded organically, by way of intuition and shared musical language. “Chris and I mentioned a whole lot of 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 suppose you actually know what you’re gonna begin writing about till you begin,” he displays. “The songs and themes simply kind of occur.”
In Welsh, Inward
Two tracks—“Agor” and “Y Gwenyn”—bookend the album in Welsh, anchoring the venture in Rheon’s heritage and providing a quieter, extra introspective type of emotional launch. “Welsh positively offers 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 right opening,” he provides. “Y Gwenyn,” however, was all the time 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 observe 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 provided sudden artistic distance. “It’s one thing I don’t actually do that usually, writing from the angle of a distinct character,” he admits.
“So it’s type of releasing in a method—trying on the state of affairs from the skin. However I believe it truly helps with the absurdity of it, writing within the first particular person.” Nonetheless, no character is ever utterly separate. “It might be unimaginable to say there aren’t parts of my private experiences inside this one.”
The Vulnerability of Artistic Management
What makes I Simply Want I’d By no means Gone To House 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 choice, 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 house the place he isn’t simply decoding another person’s imaginative and prescient, as he typically does on display, however steering your entire artistic ship. “Having that artistic management is de facto necessary to me,” he says. “I actually take pleasure in 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, 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 selections? A quiet, inner click on.
“You learn a script with an fascinating character,” he explains, “after which instinctively begin desirous about the way you play the position—and that’s all the time an excellent signal.” It’s much less a system than a gut-level recognition, one which has lengthy formed his diversified and unpredictable display trajectory.
Ramsay Bolton: Ghosts of Westeros
In fact, for a lot of, Iwan Rheon will all the time be remembered as Ramsay Bolton—the merciless, calculating and sadistic villain of “Sport of Thrones”, who grew to become one in all 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 residence. I believe it’s actually necessary to go away them within the room,” he says. “I’ve all the time 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 unhealthy boy.” Spoken like somebody who’s lengthy since made peace with the ghosts of Westeros.
The Stillness Between Initiatives
Nonetheless, there’s typically a wierd weight that follows as soon as a venture ends, not fairly the character, however one thing more durable to outline. “The overall is a kind of shadow of the character that would linger,” Rheon admits, “however I believe it’s typically simply the depth of the work—the dedication, focus and power that goes into creating one thing.”
When that abruptly vanishes, it leaves a peculiar void. “It’s all the time a bit unusual once you’re 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 method to stay artistic once I’m not on set.”
Solitude, Stillness, and Music
Not like appearing, which he describes as “a small a part of one thing a lot greater… a cog in an enormous machine,” music provides Rheon one thing extra private and sustained. “You are available in within the center, when a lot work has already gone into attending to that stage. Then once I end my bit, there’s a complete load of labor left to finish the venture.”
In distinction, songwriting is a full-circle course of—begin to end, soul to floor. “It’s a few single artistic concept that I’m part of from starting to finish,” he says. “I take pleasure in having the entire artistic management.”
Within the quiet stretch between scripts and classes, Rheon gravitates towards simplicity. No highlight, no strain, simply the world as it’s. “I like strolling round in woods or a cliff facet or no matter,” he shares, virtually offhandedly. “Making music is definitely one of many issues that I really like doing as properly. Even simply sitting alone in a room enjoying the guitar.” There’s peace in that solitude. Within the mushy ritual of being alone with sound. Or, generally, not being alone in any respect. “Hanging out with mates, 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 House” is lastly out on the planet—streaming, spinning, echoing throughout headphones—Iwan Rheon is conserving 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 exhibits can be nice. We did a couple of tunes on a reside session a couple of months again in order that they’ll be launched—and let’s see about every thing 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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