THE COMET IS COMING

Mercury-nominated electro space jazz trio deliver big on second album.

With their 2016 debut Channel The Spirits shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, and having subsequently signed to legendary jazz label Impulse!, TCIC are wellpositioned to do something pretty special here – and they don’t disappoint. Drawing on the galactic vibes and spiritual consciousness of Sun Ra and Alice Coltrane, and combining this with the transcendent electronica of artists such as James Holden, The Comet Is Coming have created a multi-faceted, cyber punk version of jazz rock that feels both ultra-modern and strangely timeless. Not bad for a trio consisting of just saxophones, synths and drums. They start in a relatively mellow mood with Because The End Is Really The Beginning, horns and keys in mystic union, sending out an invitation to the occupants of interplanetary craft. But Summon The Fire rides in on an aggressive pulse wave, the sax riffing hard, the echoing thump of the drums turning it into a massive cosmic skank. And then there’s the dirty bass and righteous anger of Blood of The Past, guest poet kate Tempest declaiming, ‘There is nothing but progress to eat, and we are so fat and so hungry.’ A dazzling display of energy and soul.