Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry Plots Cosmic New Album ‘Must Be Free’
Reggae and dub legend Lee “Scratch” Perry on his new album, Must Be Free, out September 23rd. The new album finds the Upsetter dissecting spirituality, good, evil, extraterrestrials and the human condition over a free flow of musical styles like reggae, dub, dubstep, acid jazz and electronic music.
For this record, Perry collaborated with the Groovematist, IAmPhloboi and members of the Subatomic Sound System collective. Must Be Free marks his first solo album since 2014’s Back on the Controls, though last year he released The Super Ape Strikes Again with Pura Vida, as well as the single, “I Am Paint,” with XL Recordings head, Richard Russell.
Even at 80, Perry remains a mad genius as evidenced in a new short documentary from Great Big Story. Producer EMCH, a Subatomic Sound System member, noted Perry’s continued embrace of new technology, saying, “He’s just this creative force of nature. He’s never without a computer, now he’s even said sometimes the computer is part of him. He’s constantly reacting to what’s around him, processing it and it comes back out in one way or another.”
Must Be Free Track List
1. “Psycho Dread”
2. “Rat Race”
3. “House of Sin”
4. “Isabel”
5. “Jungle Tongue”
6. “No Evil”
7. “No Sorrow”
8. “On Nigeria”
9. “Strip Off”
10. “Too Much Is Too Much”
11. “Therapist”
12. “Must Be Free”
13. “House of Sin” (Remix)