Here’s some very fine news for your Thursday afternoon: Matt Berry, the actor, comedian, musician and writer, whose excellent album Kill The Wolf was one of our favourites of last year, has already got a new full-length in the offing. Entitled Music For Insomniacs and out on Acid Jazz on May 19, it was recorded during a spell of the titular disorder Berry was suffering last year, setting aside the prog-folk stylings of Kill The Wolf and his previous LP Witchazel, instead revolving around soundscapes created on analogue synths when sleeplessness struck in the dead of night. It’s split into two, c.20-minute-long tracks, ‘Part I’ and ‘Part II’, "leaving any themes as blank as possible so that the listener can form their own images", says the press release.
Citing Mike Oldfield and Jean-Michel Jarre as influences, Berry says of the album: "I looked into the kind of music I was listening to during bouts of insomnia and found the ambient minimal pieces were sometimes too uneventful and just kept me awake, but then the pieces that were too hectic ended up having a similar effect too. Insomnia was something I suffered on my own so I wanted the creation of this album to be an equally solitary experience. It had to be completely personal so I knew I had to record every note myself. The results hopefully give the listener the effect of slowing down, moving backwards or stopping and resuming the journey in slow motion."
Before the album’s release, Berry’s putting out a single for Record Store Day on April 19. While ‘Music For Insomniacs Part IV’, backed with ‘Lost Contact’, won’t appear on the album, it should give some idea of what’s to follow, a steady crescendo of canned string swells swept up in choral vocals and reversed synth lines, massing into something gloriously grandiose. Listen to that above, and take a look at his tour dates, where he’ll be performing material from Kill The Wolf, below, with tickets available at his website:
APRIL
Fri 4 – Forum, Tunbridge Wells
Sat 5 – The Ruby Lounge, Manchester
Sun 6 – Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Mon 7 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
Tue 8 – Thekla, Bristol
Wed 9 – The Garage, London
