England dream pop band, Broadcast, makes the sort of music that feels like a much-needed warm hug or cup of tea on a windy and cold day, especially for avid and depressed readers such as vocalist Trish Keenan. After her untimely passing in 2011, which broke the collective heart of the music-listening community, James Cargill and the other current members of Broadcast retired the band name and released an album under Children of Alice: a direct tribute to Keenan and her love of the “Alice in Wonderland” book.
After May 2024’s “Spell Blanket” demo collection, which had the foundation for a new album, Broadcast fans dreaded the inevitability of having less new material from the band to go off of. September 2024’s “Distant Call,” offers some great insight in terms of how they create their songs and, as a result, creates a newfound appreciation for the band as a result.
The centerpiece of these demos is Keenan’s soft-spoken and utterly beautiful voice, but unexpectedly, there is also just an intimate acoustic guitar for instrumentation. You can even hear the shifting of the fingers on the frets if you listen closely. The lack of percussion and electronic sounds as well as the low-fidelity nature of the recordings is reminiscent of Texan avant-garde singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston’s work in a way, though instead of his seemingly sporadic style of composing and recording material with terrible yet somehow endearing equipment, these demos are more contained and controlled in the aspect of recording and composition. The hissing noise, although it may deter some, adds to the overall feel of the collection, and adds a layer of even more intimacy.
“Tears In The Typing Pool” is easily one of Broadcast’s most popular songs, and for good reason. The theme of a song about processing emotions of grief with writing, is a fantastic and productive idea. Although the lyric, “The land is unchanged,” claims that writing doesn’t do much in the physical world, it can still have an impact on the social, mental, emotional, psychological and cultural worlds.
“Still Feels Like Tears” features phenomenal guitar work which sounds like something Brazilian lo-fi pop artist Bruno Berle would compose. The underlying layer of tremolo notes was a great choice to add texture to the song.
“Colour Me In” is, like many Broadcast songs, vague, cryptic and up to multiple interpretations which can highlight the audience’s perspective in interpretation. The lyric, “Today or next year, I’ll always be here if you want to colour me in” from the chorus, could symbolize loneliness and a need for others to define you. Furthermore, the lyric, “If green is chasing the hills over miles, if blue is pursuing the sky, see if the red of your heart doesn’t mind where you begin to colour me in”, highlights the limitless potential of these primary colors if they collaborate and mix with each other to make other colors. There are many ways to interpret this song and the emotions that went into making it, but at its core, it is human.
The “Distant Call” version of “O How I Miss You” is interesting because instead of the song being an ominous interlude that builds up, representing the urgency of loneliness in 2003’s “Haha Sound”, there are two full verses in the short song delivered by Keenan. It begs the question of why the verses were cut from the original version, though the “Distant Call” version lacks the deep and electronic-based production qualities of the official version.
“Please Call To Book” is the only song that wasn’t previously on another project prior to its demo’s release. It also serves as the closer of “Distant Call”. So many emotions are subtly portrayed in the instrumentation and lyrics, but there is a ray of optimism in the lyrics, “If the Sun shines inside, the Sun shines outside”. It’s a beautiful and heartfelt way to end off the discography of one of the greatest dream pop bands.
These demos would understandably only appeal to dedicated fans of Broadcast. Still, “Distant Call” makes for great studying music.
Broadcast’s music as a whole, in its innovative inspiration from retro-ness, will seem to always be timeless. There are some common themes that unite the generations of humanity, and art is a way to bridge the gap. I am forever grateful for Broadcast for inspiring many to embrace reading and writing more as Keenan did. I hope Keenan and Broadcast will never be forgotten. It’s up to us to keep their music alive and to share it around like good writing. Real death is in forgetting.
4.5/5