Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Guide To The Universe by New Age Doom
Release date: November 5, 2021Label: We Are Busy Bodies
Only a few months ago dub legend Lee “Scratch” Perry was still with us. Sadly, but somehow fittingly, New Age Doom’s latest album ‘Lee “Scratch” Perry’s Guide To The Universe’ is Perry’s very life-affirming and last statement.
In a stroke of enlightenment, the Canadian experimentalists engaged Perry to take on leading vocals on this album.
“It felt natural to team up with an artist well known for boldness and experimentation,” reflects New Age Doom drummer and co-producer Eric J. Breitenbach on the choice of approaching Lee “Scratch” Perry to appear on the album. “We never expected him to say yes, but at the same time, never doubted that he would. Once he was aboard, everything else just fell into place.”
Actually, the list of contributors did not stop with late Perry. Bass master Tim Lefebvre and saxophonist Donny McCaslin are just a few names that join the cast here, coming up with some extraordinary stuff that crosses any musical genre border you can imagine.
Yet, the highlight is still on Perry, and rightfully so, as his inimitable vocalized rants seem to have inspired everybody involved to come up with some truly inspiring stuff.
Of course, Perry’s inspirational words from this standpoint seem even more prophetic, whether it is the opening ‘Life Is An Experiment,’ or the closing ‘Conquer The Sin,’ or anywhere else on the album for that matter.
This is stuff that goes beyond being just for fans of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry and dub experimentation.
