Channel the Spirits
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Channel the Spirits
| type = studio
| artist = The Comet Is Coming
| cover = Channelthespirits.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1 April 2016
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Nu jazz, electronic rock, neo-psychedelia, space rock
| length =
| label = The Leaf Label
| producer = Danalogue The Conqueror/Betamax Killer
| prev_title = Prophecy
| prev_year = 2015
| next_title = Death to the Planet
| next_year = 2017
}}
Channel the Spirits is the first full-length album by London-based band The Comet Is Coming. It was released on 1 April 2016 by The Leaf Label.
Background
Described as a "prophetic document" and "the beginning of the end" by The Leaf Label, Channel the Spirits draws on the same influences of jazz, electronica, psychedelia and sci-fi references as the previous release from The Comet Is Coming, Prophecy.{{cite web | url=http://www.theleaflabel.com/en/news/view/517/DM | title = The Comet Is Coming - Channel The Spirits | publisher = The Leaf Label | accessdate=7 April 2016}}{{cite web | url=http://www.theleaflabel.com/en/releases/view/220/The%20Comet%20Is%20Coming/Prophecy/DOCK%2061 | title = The Comet Is Coming - Prophecy | publisher = The Leaf Label | accessdate=7 April 2016}}
The first single, "Space Carnival", was premiered on The Quietus, who described the track as a demonstration of "the group refining their cosmic jazz stylings".{{cite web | url=http://thequietus.com/articles/19711-listen-new-the-comet-is-coming | title = LISTEN: New The Comet Is Coming | publisher = The Quietus | accessdate=7 April 2016}}
In an interview with M magazine, band member Betamax Killer said of the album:
Channel The Spirits was meant to be a soundtrack to planet Earth’s doom. To stare death in the face and explore a symphony of human emotions. Panic, hope, defiance, fear, brotherhood and a release from cultural restrictions. We hoped to discover the underlying human power beneath the mundane day-to-day routines of modern life. Through the process of making the record we have been on a journey together through the distant realms of our collective mind. It feels like we have become creative space explorers.{{cite web | url=http://www.m-magazine.co.uk/genres/jazz-genres/interview-comet-coming/?platform=hootsuite | title = Interview: The Comet Is Coming | publisher = M | accessdate=22 April 2016}}
Critical reception
Bearded magazine wrote that "this is a debut album that will leave you dumbfounded, reeling, exhausted and inspired".{{cite web | url=http://www.beardedmagazine.com/index.php/albums/article/the-comet-is-coming-channel-the-spirits-leaf | title = The Comet Is Coming: Channel The Spirits (Leaf) | publisher = Bearded Magazine | accessdate=15 April 2016}} The Quietus praised the "sense of perspiring, physical energy that pulses through almost everything" and the "outrageous, head-snapping riff and hip-snapping beat[s]" as well as the "echoes...of Space Invaders, 70s sci-fi films, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, post-punk, Fela Kuti, and 80s dance and electronica as well as...Sun Ra, Parliament, and Funkadelic".{{cite web | url=http://thequietus.com/articles/19985-the-comet-is-coming-channel-the-spirits-review | title = The Comet Is Coming | publisher = The Quietus | accessdate=15 April 2016}} Penny Black Music called the album "engaging, atmospheric and intoxicating...one of the more forward-thinking and groundbreaking albums you will hear this year...not to be missed".{{cite web | url=http://www.pennyblackmusic.co.uk/MagSitePages/Review/10339/R/Comet-is-Coming-CD-Channel-the-Spirits | title = The Comet Is Coming | publisher = Penny Black Music | accessdate=22 April 2016}}
In August 2016, the album was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize.{{cite web | url =http://www.theleaflabel.com/en/news/view/551/DM | title = The Comet Is Coming - Mercury Music Prize| work= The Leaf Label | year=2016 | accessdate = 10 August 2016 | publisher=The Leaf Label}}{{cite web | url =http://www.mercuryprize.com/news/see-the-2016-shortlist | title = Mercury Prize Shortlist| work= The Mercury Prize | year=2016 | accessdate = 10 August 2016 | publisher=The Music Prize}}
=Accolades=
Track listing
All tracks written by The Comet Is Coming
- "The Prophecy" – 1:49
- "Space Carnival" – 3:36
- "Journey Through the Asteroid Belt" – 5:33
- "Nano" – 1:16
- "New Age" – 5:27
- "Slam Dunk in a Black Hole" – 2:26
- "Cosmic Dust" – 3:26
- "Star Furnace" – 5:37
- "Channel the Spirits" – 4:04
- "Deep Within the Engine Deck" – 1:22
- "Lightyears" – 4:46
- "End of Earth" – 2:16
Personnel
;The Comet Is Coming
- King Shabaka – tenor saxophone
- Danalogue the Conqueror – keys
- Betamax Killer – drums
;Additional musicians
- Joshua Idehen – spoken word (11)