I'll tell you how it is: Uncle Acid aren't making it easy for us with Album 6.
With "Nell' Ora Blu" (The Blue Hour) , the british psychedelic fuzz four-piece deliver their version of the soundtrack of an Italian horror-thriller - the genre of the giallo and the police films of the 60s and 70s - with many passages spoken in Italian!
I was expecting a psychedelic doom album with Uncle Acid's typical distorted vocals, filthy 70's blues rock vibes and lots of fuzz - and I got ringing phones and very jazzy sound - this is probably the impression that the album leaves on most people when they hear it for the first time, because you have to completely let go of the previous albums and your expectations - this album is a nod to Italian cinema and you discover the Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats sound between relaxed jazz songs, strings, pianos and spacey keyboards - between spoken film passages and sound effects.
If you don't know the film, you shouldn't be surprised, because it's a film invented by band leader Kevin Starrs with a fictional plot and guest vocals by Franco Nero, Luc Merenda and Edwige Fenech.
Nell' Ora Blu has become a real monster with 19 songs and a running time of over 75 minutes. Even if you don't understand Italian - film scenes form in your mind's eye and take you on this dark and depressing journey.
At the beginning I said Uncle Acid don't make it easy for us - yes that's true and this album will not be accepted by everyone - but you have to get involved and open yourself up to this album, then it unfolds into one of the best in the band's discography - because you can hear how much effort, sweat and passion the band put into this album in every second!
-Helge Neumann
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