Lee 'Scratch' Perry ADD

Review

Album Review: Omar Perry Channelling Lee 'Scratch' Perry

03/07/2025

Son of Dub royalty Omar Perry has returned with a new project which is ostensibly a tribute to his late father Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.

Channelling Lee 'Scratch' Perry, released via Burning Sounds, sees Perry join forces with Olivier Gangloff (who produced Lee’s final studio album Heaven), Greg Milan, Sébastian Kohler, and Anne Foesser. It is undeniably a tribute album, of sorts, where classic Roots and Dub flavours meet the 21^st century.

What stands out across the album is the use of engineering to indeed channel Scratch. Some of it is classic – like the heavy reliance on reverb, which is at times rhythmic, and at others simply random for effect. Other elements of this feel more experimental to truly carry on what Scratch started – like the marrying of Lovers Rock sounds with Lee’s style of spoken word performance.

The album opens with Time Boom: a meandering, stripped-back, and somewhat haunting affair. There are Roots elements a plenty like Michel Latour’s keys on a bubble rhythm – but it’s the additional Dub elements which stand out. Gently flowing strings give detail, while Sébastien Kohler’s electric guitar, heavily compressed, plays blue notes to add disquiet. Perry channels his father across a spoken word-heavy performance, and the whole thing is eery while delivering a message of inner-strength and resilience against Babylon’s onslaught – knowing there’s a bigger plan for us all.

Then, Wicked Back Deh picks up the pace and makes the arrangement somewhat fuller. There are some pleasing moments like the well-arranged backing vocals that jut in and out. Once again, an electric guitar whines across blue notes, while Anne Foesser’s bongos patter furiously to help elevate the pace. The heavy reverb across the keys feeds into this momentum, while Perry delivers a strong, straighter singjay at points – showing his versatility – which involves some complex rhythms. Lyrically, he has delivered a rousing call to arms against Babylon’s ‘wicked’ proponents – singing a righteous anthem of resistance.

Magnetic Lights changes tack somewhat, leaning heavier into Roots with its swaying bassline, use of Michel Latour’s electric organ across some shrill chord work, and the call and response backing vocals. However, the Dub is still present. Pointed breaks make good use of engineering across Perry’s vocal (with well-placed repetition made to sound like reverb), while those bongos are frantic once more. Perry is forthright and pointed, too – as he delivers a gruff vocal with some pleasing melodic work and a narrative that is both brash and thoughtful – discussing the moving forward of the culture but also nodding to Rastafari ‘coming’ for the wicked, with Jah behind them. It’s compelling and well-executed.

Next, Key To Your Heart sees the vibe completely change – as Perry takes Channelling… into almost Lovers Rock territory. It’s a gorgeously arranged piece – with an electric organ running a delicate skank against the keys bubble rhythm, while Olivier Gangloff’s drums do some pleasing work and the whole thing is wrapped together with some attractive minor-to-major chord progressions. Perry shows his versatility once again, delivering a straight and powerful Soul vocal combined with sentimental lyrics about that one true love – but while still nodding to his father in a brief spoken word section. Delicious.

Pied Piper is an intentionally hard-nosed Roots affair, which feels almost marching in its nature thanks to the drums and Gregory Milan’s bass arrangement in a nod to the title and lyrical content. Here, a selection of percussion like a vibraslap elevate the rhythm section, while the vocals are heavy and well-arranged. Once again, nods to Dub are present like the use of reverb – but Pied Piper feels Roots-heavy, aside from Perry’s strong vocal which swerves between singjay and spoken word again. Lyrically, the Pied Piper is a metaphor for, on the face of it, those of us who are conscious and/or Rasta – or it could be Jah himself depending on your viewpoint. But either way, the track is slick and efficient.

Wah See No Foe ups the ante in terms of sonic experimentation. Another Roots-based track, the electric organ and keys are central to the sound, here – as they skank and bubble rhythm on the choruses and verses while reverting to drawn-out chords on the bridges to indicate the building of the track. There’s some excellent use of percussion, again central, which has the feel of Scratch. Perry is highly expressive across his vocal performance, employing various tricks in terms enunciation and embouchure to deliver an engaging performance, and his spoken word section could be Scratch in his heyday. It’s a lyrical triumph, too, serving as a stark warning of those who are badmind and those who are snakes in the grass. Stirring work.

Then, Lovers Paradise once again mixes things up – as the track takes us back to what feels like the 1990s, as a strong major key and RnB chord progressions meet Lovers Rock lyrics and a soulful performance from Perry. However, Dub is still thrown into the mix for good measure, as a reverb-heavy portion of engineering meets complex percussive arrangements to deliver something out of the ordinary.

Weh Dem A Try winds things back to that classic Scratch Dub sound: early Dancehall with its root-to-seventh chord progression accompanied by Roots staples like the bubble rhythm. However, here the electric organ is back in the mix just to throw you off kilter and stirring backing vocals reign strong. Yet the Dub elements are once again impressive – like the spaceship gun sounds, stark breaks, and other samples which – in all honesty – are hard to pin down. Perry once again shows his skill at complex singjay (particularly across the complicated verses) and he provides a strong narrative around remaining spiritually strong and faithful, despite what Babylon might throw at you. It’s perhaps the most straight-up tribute to Scratch on the album and works brilliantly.

Channelling… closes with Garden Grow. It’s a superb finish – as the track is a complete encapsulation of what Scratch was about. There are elements of fun – the sampling of the English nursery rhymes Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary and Rub-a-dub-dub – while the Roots influences are still strong. Dub features heavily across the brilliant use of reverb, some wild sonics in terms of synths and samples, and the sudden breaks. It’s also quite Rub-a-Dub at points, where everything is stripped back to a basic rhythm section. But then at other points the wall of sound is intense, with so much going on it requires repeated listens to fully appreciate it all. Perry is superb – doing a fine balancing act between singjay, Roots vocal, and spoken word – and the whole thing is wrapped up with a strong lyrical message about how society, relationships, and communities are only built through hard work, faith, and love. It’s joyous and spellbinding.

The digital version includes some bonus Dub tracks. Wicked Back Deh Dub sees the sonics go interstellar as percussion comes to the fore, reverb gets even heavier, and compression features heavily. Then, Time Boom Dub is classic in style but with some pleasing features – like the opening fading in of the track and the use of reverb on a triplet rhythm for added sway.

Overall, Channelling Lee 'Scratch' Perry is a triumph from Omar Perry and all involved. It’s inventive, grounded in the roots of the Dub sound but still inventive and bang up to date, while Perry himself delivers highly accomplished vocal and lyrical works. It’s magnificent and Scratch himself would surely be proud.