ALBUM OF THE WEEK: THE BLUE ELEPHANT — MATT BERRY (2021)

The Blue Elephant continues Matt Berry’s track record of 60s and 70s psychedelia, but it differs from his earlier albums (such as Kill The Wolf), which are folkier and evoke The Wicker Man style pagan festivals in the British countryside. There are tinges of folk on Alone and Life Unknown, but this album is more synthy, closer to something like Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells or Jean-Michel Jarre’s Oxygene.

Berry writes the music, plays nearly all of the instruments, records and engineers it himself, and is completely self taught. The album is beautifully produced, with syrupy guitars, jazzy drums and dancing synths often coming together to produce recurring motifs and melodies. The vocals are distorted in intriguing ways, and songs are scattered with the haunting sounds of elephants trumpeting in agony.

Besides being a jack of all trades musically, Berry is known in the UK for his involvement writing and acting in a number of comedy projects, such as the Mighty Boosh, Toast of London (which features original songs by Berry), and What We Do In The Shadows, and his buttery voice is instantly recognisable whenever passing on the radio in an advert.

However, this album is quite light on the vocals, and when they do feature they are echoey and pained. Humorous lyrics (like rhyming “Bedfordshire” and “disappear” on Now Disappear and slipping in backmasked vulgarities on Life Unknown) are mixed with often devastating ones, and when set to warm, summery psych this creates a sense of melancholy that is both hopeful and strained.

The album is certainly “blue”, and references Joseph Merrick, known as The Elephant Man (who also makes an appearance on one of Berry’s TV shows, Year of the Rabbit). Merrick is pictured in a blue suit on the album art (which Berry painted himself), surrounded by flashing lights, perhaps from cameras. Most of the songs on the album are about being sick of being recognised and scrutinised, feeling like a performing freak, and longing for anonymity.

Similar artists:

Project GeminiJ

acco Gardner

Jean-Michel Jarre

Mike Oldfield

Pentangle

Kevin Ayers

The Coral

Roxy Music

Fairport Convention

Tim Heidecker

Originally published 28/01/24 on Medium.