Matt Berry - "Heard Noises" : His 8th album is here

    It must be both great and deeply weird to be Matt Berry sometimes. Who else could carve out such a niche as an actor and musician that it’s quicker to scrub out a load of lines on your CV (including “sitcom vampire” and “library composer"] and just put “Matt Berry” down as your occupation? A gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer with impeccable reference points, his albums resemble what might have happened in 1971 if Peter Wyngarde had wandered into the machine from The Fly at the same time as Keith Mansfield. Matt’s eighth studio album on Acid Jazz is full of his trademark sonic flourishes and arch lyrics but perhaps with a little more of a dollop of The Fear this time.

Many moons back, Matt appeared on Vic and Bob’s Shooting Stars as Vangelis, communicating mostly through grunts and piercing synth stabs. Rousing opener ‘Why On Fire’ and ‘Be Alarmed’ are the first signals this is his own mangled take on Aphrodite’s Child’s 666. The former races along urgently but disintegrates into creepy goblin voices and synth blips. The latter sets a haunting, sparse tune into what sounds like a black mass in a Soho drinking club. Even the fairly conventional ’60s pop balladry of ‘To Live For What Once Was' tilts into meltdown midway through.

Lead single Ί Gotta Limit’ is a funny duet with Kitty Liv of Kitty, Daisy & Lewis (headline: Matt’s protagonist is a bit of a liability whose trousers don’t fit). The moody ‘Wedding Photo Stranger' rides in on a smashing, sexy bass/drum groove and sounds genuinely sinister in places.

Ί Entered As I Came’ features the smoky tones of actress Natasha Lyonne, who makes a repeated chant of “I entered as I came /I came as I entered” sound exactly as filthy/sinister as it reads. ‘There Are Monsters’ is a slamming library funk dancer.

Heard Noises closes on the shape- shifting mini-suite of ‘The Snakes Will Slide’ before exiting with a brief dash of KPM flash. This is great music for an occult go-go dancing competition. Just try not to split your trousers.