Broadcast

The longing for a lost transmission from a favorite band always holds on tight, even more so in the wake of a tragic passing. Broadcast fans have long been hopeful for one last transmission from the waking dream that draped Broadcast, and with the release of Spell Blanket, they capture some of the feelings, if not the scope of a new work from Broadcast. The collection culls from Trish Keenan’s stash of demos, voice memos, 4-track recordings, and extensive mini-disc library. The sprawling, crackling collection retains the dreamlike linger of Broadcast’s songs, albeit dusted with a bit more murk, looser lines around the edges. While it runs almost the same length as Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age, it doesn’t descend into dream as deeply or as effortlessly as the band’s meticulously planned works.

Naturally, its an unfinished album — bones, dust, and shadows that have been shaped by James in the wake of his bandmate’s passing. It gives an idea of what was to come, though. It provides one more glimpse into the music box wonderland that Broadcast inhabited, one last ride through the strange ether that Trish could conjure. Yet, even as you listen there’s a feeling of a photograph blowing out of reach, of a last piece of film catching fire on the projector, accompanied by the anxious need to catch it before it crumbles. Spell Blanket is both a gift to fans and a twist of the knife, a reminder of what could have been. It’s lovely all the same just to walk around the dust-drawn specters of Keenan’s imagination. It’s an essential document for the butterfly collectors and kaleidoscope decoders who came along for the ride all these years.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.