The Black Delta Movement | Interview | New Album, ‘Recovery Effects’
The Black Delta Movement recently released ‘Recovery Effects’ via Fuzz Club Records.
‘Recovery Effects’ features playing and creative input from Little Barrie’s Barrie Cadogan across all of the tracks and is produced by The Heliocentrics’ Malcolm Catto. The result is eight tracks of immersive, groove-heavy psychedelic rock. Determination and a commitment to musical development are writ large across Matt Burr’s personal and artistic journey as the main creative force behind The Black Delta Movement. His most collaborative work yet, ‘Recovery Effects’ sees Matt recruiting highly lauded UK guitar-slinger and Little Barrie frontman Barrie Cadogan and bandmates Lewis Wharton (bass) and Tony Coote (drums) to provide musical backing on the album.
“I wanted to spend a little more time on each song to get more out of it”
It took quite a long time since your debut album was released. What occupied your life beside the obvious pandemic?
Matt Burr: It’s been a long five years hasn’t it?! The initial plan was to finish touring the album in 2019, finish writing this new one and then release it in 2020 – in a strange way though the pandemic was welcomed from a writing/recording perspective because I actually wrote ‘No Road To Go,’ ‘Always Home’ and ‘Hiding In The Tall Grass’ in lockdown and I don’t think they would have happened without it! Plus my redundancy payments from the venue I worked at and the Covid testing job I got eventually paid for the album so in a way – thank god for small mercies?
What can you tell us about material on the second album? Where did you take inspiration from?
When we recorded ‘Preservation’ I remember saying to Mike who produced us that I wanted to incorporate more of a CAN feel for the next album so I suppose I was true to my word, ha. I did spend a lot of time trying to find new music and push my guitar technique though – I also wanted to spend a little more time on each song to get more out of it cause I’ve often been quite lazy with my songwriting which Malcolm Catto actually said to me when we were recording ‘Recovery Effects’! “You’re a good songwriter mate, but you’re a lazy bastard” – he’s at least right about the second part!
Would you be able to draw parallels with your debut album? What are some key differences?
I think the whole feel of this album feels a lot more “mature” – it’s also fresher for me since ‘Preservation’ was largely made up of songs written back in 2010-2013. Malcolm’s influence on it brought things out of me that I never thought I would be able to do which was special. Plus the absolute privilege of being able to play with Barrie Cadogan, Lewis Wharton and Tony Coote really encouraged me to up my game. All in all the record feels like it has more influences and cogs that make the album turn in its own unique way. I’m very proud of it.
Can you share some further words about the recording process?
Working with Malcolm was probably the most incredible recording process I’ve ever had. When I took the equipment to his studio initially we sat and talked about what we wanted to do and he asked “is it alright if I run away with it a little and chop things up?” – obviously I obliged. He was very big on “just get the groove and run with it, keep playing” – I remember one of the early takes of ‘Fourth Pass Over The Graveyard’ he came in and he said “yeah that was good, but you all spoiled it when you started going too flowery”. I’ve learned a lot from him.
Tell us about your gear and amps.
I’ve been using the same Epiphone Casino for 13 years now! I love that guitar so much, it feels very much a part of me these days. I ran through a 1972 Fender Twin Reverb too, I chose it because I just wanted a real clean tone with head room to hit my fuzzes and there’s no better amp for that than a Twin is there! I recently bought a Wem Dominator to dual up with it too so I can put the low end through that and let the twin handle all the mids and highs so that I have plenty of range and a fatter sound.
How pleased were you with the sound of the album?
Honestly I couldn’t be happier. From my own perspective I’m just so proud that we managed to write, record and release something that absolutely dived out of my comfort zone at times. It’s a record I’ll be proud of for years to come – I hope everyone else likes it!
“I’m now ten songs deep into writing the third album”
Are you planning to gig?
Absolutely, we really want to be on the road and we’re currently working on a few dates but at the same time with it being such a long gap between the last album and this one, I’m now ten songs deep into writing the third album so we can get that out there as soon as we possibly can.
What are some future plans?
Mainly writing and recording album number three! I have plans for it and a rough idea of the feel for it – I just want to keep moving! I don’t want to leave it so long before releasing something else next time!
Are any of you involved in any other bands or do you have any active side-projects going on at this point?
The Black Delta Movement is very much my baby so I’ve always had all my eggs in this basket. I’m very keen to work on new things though once I have some time to do it! I have my record label and studio so I think I need to work with that a bit more now this is all moving. I love working with bands and artists so I’d like to be able to do that more.
Let’s end this interview with some of your favourite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?
It’s tough to choose really! ‘Directions To See A Ghost’ by The Black Angels is a staple for me and ‘Stanley Road’ by Paul Weller really laid the groundwork for my love for music – Brendan Lynch’s production on it is sublime. Lately my favourite album that I’ve discovered is our label mate – Breanna Barbara. I adore her record and have had it on heavy rotation! Very lucky to be in the same camp as so many amazing artists.
Thank you. Last word is yours.
The biggest thing I want to say really is thank you so much to everybody who has listened to and bought the album – it’s exceeded all expectations. It’s been a really, really exciting time. On to the next one!
Klemen Breznikar
The Black Delta Movement Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / YouTube
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