NEW ALBUMS
MATT BERRY
REVELATIONS
…on a psychedelic trip with “lots of things going on”
"People used to think, ‘Well, it looks old, it must be shit,’” says Matt Berry of his collection of vintage equipment, much of which he picked up “back in the ’90s for, like, 100 quid, because there was absolutely no interest in them”.
Period tech such as Farfisa and Hammond organs, Minimoog and Arp 2600 synthesisers, a Wurlitzer electric piano and, of course, the mighty Mellotron, feature alongside more organic sounds on his ambitious new song cycle, The Blue Elephant. They help colour a record that spins giddily across everything from David Axelrod-style symphonic psychedelia to glam rock, R&B, space pop and soundtrack exotica.
Although his profile is still higher in the world of TV comedy (he stars in series such as Toast Of London), Berry’s stock as a prolific, idiosyncratic singer-songwriter keeps rising thanks to records like this and the folk-pop vignettes of last year’s Phantom Birds. “This time I wanted to do something more flamboyant,” he explains, “with lots of things going on.”
It’s the latest of eight studio albums he’s made since signing to Acid Jazz 10 years ago, and another is already in the pipeline. “I’m always writing something,” he explains. “And it’ll probably be pretty different to this. Each album is a reaction to the last.”
JOHNNY SHARP