A true titan amongst any self-respecting Reggae fan, Lee Scratch Perry announces his latest album RAINFORD, produced by Adrian Sherwood, & shares the first track AFRICAN STARSHIP

On-U Sound is proud to announce the return to the label of the mighty Upsetter, for 9 brand new tracks recorded in Jamaica, Brazil, and London, with longtime friend and collaborator Adrian Sherwood at the controls.

“It’s the most intimate album Lee has ever made, but at the same time the musical ideas are very fresh. I’m extremely proud of what we’ve come up as a piece of work” – Adrian Sherwood.

Without hyperbole, Lee Perry is a musical titan with few equals. The man Brian Eno called

“One of the geniuses of recorded Music”,

is a massively influential Grammy-winning producer and serial collaborator, who’s worked with everyone from Keith Richards to David Lynch, The Congos to The Clash, Junior Murvin to The Beastie Boys.

Adrian Sherwood has been an influential and innovative figure on the UK reggae and independent label scene for nearly 40 years, not to mention being invited to apply his mixing-desk-sound-science to artists as varied as Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Sinéad O’Connor, Primal Scream, Blur, The Fall and Roots Manuva.

Perry’s friendship with Sherwood stretches back to the mid-1980’s, and a fortuitous meeting brokered by underground broadcasting legend Steve Barker. This led to the creation of On-U classics such as ‘Time Boom X De Devil Dead’ and ‘From The Secret Laboratory’, as well as Lee gracing Dub Syndicate records with vital vocal injections.

This new set is the culmination of over two years work, recorded in three different countries by a crack crew of brilliant musicians. Determined to craft a work of lasting power, Sherwood likens to the album to the work Rick Rubin did with Johnny Cash on the American Recordings series. This is a deeply personal work (the album title refers to Lee’s birth name) and is arguably the strongest batch of original material that Perry has released for many years.

From the atmospheric field recording and wah-wah guitar of album opener ‘Cricket On The Moon’, to the gothic cello embellishment on ‘Let It Rain’, the chopped-and-compressed horn section of ‘Makumba Rock’, to the layered, carefully-arranged backing vocals like a heavenly chorus throughout the record, this album has true love, care and attention poured into its every groove.

It culminates in the truly extraordinary ‘Autobiography Of The Upsetter’, in which Scratch narrates the story of his life, from growing up on a plantation in 1930’s colonial Jamaica, to becoming a worldwide musical superstar.

Lee Scratch Perry – Rainford via iTunes
Standard LP/Deluxe LP /CD/Download/Stream
(31st May 2019)

‘African Starship’ also features on the On-U Sound compilation ‘Pay It All Back Vol. 7’, which is released 29th March and can be pre-ordered HERE

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