matt-berry what we do in the shadows

Matt Berry ('What We Do in the Shadows') preps new LP, shares "Something in My Eye"

Matt Berry, who you might know as Laszlo on FX’s What We Do in the Shadows (and from The IT Crowd, Toast of London, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, and many other funny shows), is also a very talented musician and songwriter, and has just announced his new album, Phantom Birds, which will be out September 18 via Acid Jazz Records. The record was inspired by Bob Dylan’s trio of Nashville albums with Berry’s aim being to keep the backing and arrangements simple. The album features the great pedal steel player BJ Cole and drummer Craig Blundell (Steven Wilson, Steve Hackett), with Berry playing everything else himself.

The first single from the album is “Something in My Eye” which, like a lot of Berry’s work, sounds straight out of the mid-’70s, with Cole’s pedal steel adding some George Harrison-style zip. “It’s a song about putting a brave face on,” says Berry, “telling everyone you’re fine, when in reality you’re really not at all. Not necessarily something you always hear from a male perspective.” You can stream the song, and check out album art and the tracklist, below.

Season 2 of What We Do in the Shadows wrapped up a few weeks back and was even better than the first. If you haven’t watched, the series is based on Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s 2014 mockumentary about house of vampires in Wellington, NZ. The series moves things to NYC’s Staten Island and finds very silly humor in mixing the fantastical with the mundane. Berry’s character, Laszlo, gets the spotlight in Season 2’s best episode, “On the Run,” where he flees town when an old nemesis comes looking for him. He ends up in rural Pennsylvania, taking a job as a “regular human bartender” and blending in surprisingly well with the locals. (The episode also has a great guest star as his nemesis which won’t be spoiled here.) Both seasons of WWDITS are available to stream via Hulu.

If you want more of Berry, both his comedic side and his musical side, all three seasons of Toast of London — which he co-created and stars as washed up actor Steven Toast — are on Netflix. Every episode features a musical number. It’s terrific.

Other than Shadows, Berry’s most recent series is Year of the Rabbit, where he stars as a Victorian era detective Eli Rabbit. That can been seen in North America on IFC.

matt-berry phantom birds

Phantom Birds tracklist:
1. Something In My Eye
2. Danced All Night
3. Phantom Birds
4. Moonlight Flit
5. Man Of Doom
6. Where’s My Love
7. Take A Bow
8. Intermission
9. Hail To The King
10. In My Mind
11. That Yellow Bird
12. Waving Goodbye
13. Covered In Clowns