I’d like to think we all have a passing familiarity with Matt Berry by now, even if it’s just his comedic work. Personally, one of my favourite bits of his is in a cult dark comedy show from the UK called Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace in which Berry performs a song called “One Track Lover“. Funnily enough this was also my first introduction to Berry as a singer and it was from there that I’ve had a passing interesting in his other shows and music.
Now, roughly 20 years on from the airing of Darkplace, Berry has released his 8th studio album, Heard Noises, an LP that he has stated is his most personal to date. It’s an amalgamation of his curiosity for exploring different genres and blending them together, with his love of analog synths and production techniques. This provides his music with a vintage sound and a ‘lost in time’ quality without the unpalatable cheesiness and ruffle disco shirts.
Berry has moved the spotlight off of his folk-y earlier work with Heard Noises and is instead putting his love of analog synthesizers and funky, slightly spaced out psych tunes front and center. Similar in style to 2021’s The Blue Elephant but simpler, in a less is more sort of way. Where The Blue Elephant felt dense and psychedelic, with Berry showcasing his love for Frank Zappa’s intricate instrumentation throughout, Heard Noises feels lighter, poppier, and more easily digestible, while still showcasing the duality of Berry as a composer.
Throughout Heard Noises, Berry offers up warm, catchy tunes, like opener “Why On Fire?”, which starts out like a Brit rock song of yore before neo-funk drums come in and change up the pace along with some jazzy piano. Similarly, lead single,r “I Gotta Limit” which features British soul/rock musician and singer, Kitty Liv, encapsulates Berry’s ability to craft songs that are seemingly plucked from a bygone era, in this case a love letter to Northern soul.
However, the duality of Berry as a writer is apparent through the album. In the aforementioned “Why On Fire?” seems to be wrapping up nicely at three and a half minutes in but then opts to lead us astray into trippy space rock inspired territory where Berry rears his glorious mane and gets a bit freaky with some reverse tape effects. This is an element that tends to appear again and again throughout the album, a consistent balancing act that Berry seems to be harnessing to ensure that sultry sweetness and catchy melodies are juxtaposed with spacey synth and modulator sounds that wouldn’t be amiss on a Pink Floyd album.
Undoubtedly Heard Noises is a great starting point for those who want to test out Berry’s music. There are lots of nifty hooks and bouncy beats that will make this an easier listen than say, starting with Witch Hazel. For all the catchiness of songs like “Silver Rings” and “Canada Dry” (both have lived rent free in my head for the last two weeks) there are tracks that balance out the sweetness, like “I Entered As I Came” which blends seamlessly into “There Are Monsters” offer moments of psychedelic cinema and dreamlike synth that imbue a healthy dose of darkness and depth.
Berry has, once again, shown that he has a great ear for an infectious tune or a catchy turn of phrase, as well as a gentle touch when merging some different genres in his oddly vintage way. While some may worry that this album is being lauded as his most accessible, Heard Noises still offers a lot of replayability for those who need some instrumental meatiness to keep them satiated and, unsurprisingly, a good amount of depth from a musician that continues to delve ever deeper into what music is to him.
Artist photo by Ben Meadows
