Album: The Orb featuring Lee Scratch Perry, The Observer in the Star House (Cooking Vinyl)

"Hearing is a feeling," sings Lee Scratch Perry on "Ball of Fire", "I am the maddest, scooby-dooby-doo" – and who would gainsay either claim?

This alliance with The Orb is positive for both parties, Perry providing a tighter rein on their tendency to meander, while they furnish him with a different terrain to his usual dub skanks, even bringing a more haunting tone to the familiar "Police & Thieves". Elsewhere, fingersnaps drive "Hold Me Upsetter", and disco hi-hats and quacking synths collude on "Soulman", while "Golden Clouds" is built around Steve Reich's "Electric Counterpoint". Not that Scratch seems phased: "Welcome, well done, welcome to the blazing sun!" he exults. "Shazam connect!". Indeed.

Download: Ball of Fire; Soulman; Police & Thieves