The Night Terrors (St Etienne Mix)

Album review

Matt Berry's excellent 2016 album, The Small Hours, was another step toward establishing the comedic actor as a serious musical force with roots in indie pop, folk, prog, and psychedelia. The Night Terrors EP is a brief companion release comprising remixes and retakes from the album, plus a handful of new songs. Saint Etienne and Clark do very different things to the prog-jazz title track with their mixes, the former delving into some laid-back, funky grooves that aren't as much terrifying as they are tasty, while the latter takes the terror part seriously and turns the song into something that sounds like whirling knife blades, possessed wind-up dolls, and scream-inducing jump cuts. In a slightly less drastic move, Berry and Pugwash turn "Lord Above" from a Motown stomper to something slinky and smooth, with the two singers harmonizing beautifully. The rest of the EP is nicely balanced between interesting instrumentals (like the African jazz-influenced "Middle of the East" and a groovy version of Pink Floyd's "Any Colour You Like" minus the guitar strangling) and vocal turns (the murky ballad "Hey Little Girl" and a take on Frank Zappa's "Mr. Green Genes" that subtracts most of the archness in favor of humor). The EP is a pleasant diversion designed to keep fans happy until Berry releases his next full album and takes the next step on his ever-deepening musical journey.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo