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Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats

After six years without a new record, they return with one inspired by 70s Italian murder-mystery cinema.

Inspired by 70s Italian slasher horror and crime flicks, Cambridge-based psychedelic doomsters Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats return with an imaginary soundtrack, Nell’ Ora Blu (The Blue Hour), for their sixth album. It’s a bit of a change from their usual busy schedule of touring with the likes of Black Sabbath, King Diamond and Ghost, says founder and frontman Kevin Starrs.

You brought in two classic actors for this. Tell us about them.

Frank Nero is known for being quite overthe-top, and I wanted that for his role, Scarano – someone unhinged! Edwige Fenech has one of the most distinctive voices in giallo. She’s a screen legend, and even though she couldn’t communicate in English with me she delivered perfectly recorded parts straight away.

It’s been a while since the last Uncle Acid album, 2018’s Wasteland. You were quite busy, weren’t you?

Touring, yes! We went out with King Diamond in Europe, then went to Australia, New Zealand and Japan… We were one of the last bands out and playing until lockdown in 2020.

The King Diamond shows must have been a blast.

We were his personal choice to support, and he was really friendly to us, although he never saw us play as he had to do fan meet-and-greets while we were on stage. I like a lot of his work, and [his former band] Mercyful Fate. He’s got a great voice and puts on such a good show.

You’re back with Nell’ Ora Blu. Fill us in.

This is what I was up to during lockdown. It’s inspired by seventies Italian murder-mystery cinema, the giallo genre [which comes from pulp paperbacks]. Years ago I got into forties and fifties film noir and somehow moved on to the Italian stuff, which is quite wild, sexual and horrific, and features a lot of detective work and shadowy figures. It was a psychedelic version of