Poised to stand out as the most radical album of Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats' storied career, Nell' Ora Blu is a true tour-de-force of dramatic ingenuity. Inspired by the dark, mysterious, and often bloody Italian Giallo film scene, Kevin Starrs took a detour and created his own storyboard to play along with and the result is a beautiful and suspense-filled instrumental soundtrack... for a non-existent film.
Devoted fans will undoubtedly recognize the Uncle Acid fingerprints here but this startling left-turn will also present a formidable challenge to even the most open-minded riff-heads. Like a tense and bewildering fever dream, Nell' Ora Blu is a vivid, lysergic excursion like no other.
“I know something like this might have limited appeal, but who cares?," says Starrs. "Most of what we do has a limited appeal anyway! It’s just a real mix of different styles that I like. There are no singles or ‘hits’. Instead, it all just flows along one thing into the next. You can think of it like blood seeping from a wound. It’s continuous. By the end of it, you’re left exhausted. It’s hard work for the listener. We don’t do easy listening!”
Unusual guest stars such as giants of the Italian film underground, Edwige Fenech and Franco Nero, present exclusive dialogue interspersed between tracks, contributing to a unique listening experience that throbs and shrieks with horrific intent.
Starrs explains: “It’s a tribute to 70s Italian cinema. It’s a story about people who decide to take the law into their own hands. Things get pretty dark straight away and of course, it doesn’t end well for anyone. It has elements of grimy poliziotteschi (Italian crime/action films) and classic Giallo (Italian cinema’s revered horror/sexploitation movement). Once I decided to do everything in Italian, I made a list of actors that I wanted. Franco Nero and Edwige Fenech were the first names I thought of. Two legends that had never been paired together before. I contacted their agents and both actors were interested in the idea, so we set it up from there.”
Having completed the project and been exhilarated by its creation, Starrs now has tentative plans to bring some of this incredible music to the morbid masses. What started as simply a new Uncle Acid project, has evolved into a true project of passion bringing together the wonderful worlds of music and film in one dark, enthralling soundtrack for a film we can only wish to be actually watching.
Nell' Ora Blu will be available on vinyl as a double LP, CD, and for digital download on May 10, via Rise Above Records. Pre-orders will be available soon.
Nell' Ora Blu tracklisting:
"Il Sole Sorge Sempre"
"Giustizia di Strada - Lavora Fino alla Morte"
"La Vipera"
"Vendetta (Tema)"
"La Bara Resterà Chiusa"
"Cocktail Party"
"Il Tesoro di Sardegna"
"Nell' Ora Blu"
"Il Chiamante Silenzioso"
"Tortura al Telefono"
"Pomeriggio di Novembre Nel Parco - Occhi che Osservano"
"Il Retorno del Chiamante Silenzioso"
"Solo la Morte to Ammanetta"
"Il Gatto Morto"
"Guidando Veloce Verso la Campagna"
"L'Omicidio"
"Resti Umani"
"Sorge Anche il Sole"
"Ritorno All'Oscurità"
15 years on from their shadowy formation in the deepest, darkest Cambridgeshire, England, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats stand as one of the most idiosyncratic and eccentric bands ever to emerge from the post-Sabbathian realm. Kevin Starrs’ enigmatic crew has built a reputation on music that defies categorization. With a sound that has variously plundered from classic doom, psychedelia, garage rock, and underground, occult heaviness, they have consistently evolved and mutated, with invariably gripping results.
From the furious riff worship of 2010’s acclaimed debut Volume 1 and its spellbinding follow-up Blood Lust (2011), through the uniformly praised Mind Control (2013) – which saw the band performing support duties for a reunited Black Sabbath in arenas around Europe and beyond – and 2015’s semi-conceptual killing spree The Night Creeper, Starrs’ vision has been crystal clear and fiercely original. The fifth Uncle Acid album, Wasteland, was released via long-time home Rise Above Records in 2018, accruing some of the most ecstatic reviews of the band’s career.
(Photo - Karin Hunt)
