Album Review: Repentance – Lee "Scratch" Perry

What on Earth is veteran Jamaican reggae maestro Lee “Scratch” Perry doing here on the pages of MCR, you ask? Well, Perry’s recently released 54th (!) studio album, Repentance, is the result of an unlikely collaboration with Ann Arbor-bred party animal Andrew W.K., whose presence on the disc is massive.

Aside from being given co-production credits, W.K. plays a number of instruments on every track. But don’t let the heavy bass guitar on opening track “Shine” mislead you- Repentance doesn’t have the rock leanings you’d expect W.K. to bring to the sessions. What he does bring is his notorious energy, and Repentance surges with it.

Instead of rocking, Perry and W.K. want to take you to a far out nightclub, and then maybe the cosmos. Lead single “Pum Pum” is an apt summary of Repentance‘s manifesto. “Went into a nightclub in New York City” he almost raps, in search of the song’s namesake. By the end Perry implores “Jesus Christ/ Give me more” and you wonder if he’s actually asking for something else. It’s equal parts lewd and transcendental.

The rest of the album contains the same uncanny mixture of dance, spaced out dub trips, and religious imagery. Perry warns of the madder-than-mad revenge of the fire god on “Fire” and makes it sound like a good time. On the more traditional reggae-sounding “God Save His King”, Perry calls on the criminal convict government to repent. And on “Santa Claus”, over a thumping electro beat, Perry giddily announces “Santa Claus will be here!” and also name-checks Mickey Mouse and an apocalyptic winter. If it sounds like the craziest party you’ve ever heard of, that’s because it is.

Find Repentance on Amazon and iTunes.