Robyn Hitchcock
Black Snake Diamond Role

THE REVIEW

The Madcap Laughs by Syd Barrett was released in 1970 under the Harvest label and sold just 6,000 copies.

Not many.

Syd's next album, titled "Barrett," sold even fewer copies, leaving a bitter taste in its author's mouth, who nonetheless promised a third album that never saw the light of day.

From these handfuls of copies, one of the most interesting musical movements was born: neo-psychedelia and the new wave. What does Robyn Hitchcock have to do with it?

I consider Hitchcock the unluckiest artist in history. A writer of immense talent, he produced 30 beautiful albums. Yes, okay. A few slips, but not much.

"Black Snake Diamond Role," Robyn’s debut album, is the kind of album that can change the way you perceive music and make you fall in love with its author forever, and thank Mr. Barrett for enlightening him on the road to Cambridge.

Songs like "The Man Who Invented Himself," "Meet," "Brenda's Iron Sledge" can perfectly be considered any musician's dream. Then, the masterpiece, "Acid Bird" dedicated to Father Barrett. A song of such beauty that it becomes irrelevant to understand whether it is pop, wave, psychedelia, rap, or something else.

The album closes with "Love," yet another masterpiece.

Intense, perfect, dreamy, hallucinating. This is Mr. Hitchcock's calling card as a solo artist.

The paradoxical thing about this English musician is that after "Black Snake Diamond Role," he made even better albums. Try listening to "Fegmania"...

Immense talent. Even limitations in some musicians become virtues.