Reggae mastermind Lee “Scratch” Perry unveiled an ethereal new song, “Enlightened,” from his upcoming dub album, Heavy Rain, set to arrive December 6th via On-U Sound.
“Enlightened” finds Perry in vintage form, burrowing into a deep groove from which he unspools a hypnotizing mix of guitars, synths, drums and vocals. The song is accompanied by a video, in which Perry paints a note to God on a balloon then sends it up to the heavens.
Heavy Rain follows Perry’s most recent LP, Rainford, which was released in May. While the new LP mainly features dub re-works of Rainford tracks, Heavy Rain does boast a handful of original tunes as well. To help him flesh out the original Rainford sessions, Perry worked with co-producer Adrian Sherwood and several guests, including Brian Eno, who appears on a re-imagining of Rainford track “Makumba Rock,” which now boasts the sly title, “Here Come the Warm Dreads,” a nod to Eno’s 1974 debut, Here Come the Warm Jets.
Heavy Rain also features contributions from reggae stalwart and Wailers trombonist Vin Gordon, who appears on “Rattling Bones and Crowns” (a re-work of “Kill Them Dreams Money Worshippers”) and “Crickets in Moonlight” (a re-work of “Cricket in the Moon”). Perry and Sherwood also partnered on two original tracks, “Dreams Come True” and “Above and Beyond.”
Perry will kick off a North American tour tonight, September 19th, at the Cedar in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The run wraps September 29th at Foro Indie Rocks in Mexico City, though he’ll also play a handful of West Coast dates starting October 26th at Northern Delights in Hayfork, California.