Years active 2013–present Origin London, United Kingdom | Labels The Leaf Label Record label The Leaf Label | |
 | ||
Associated acts Melt Yourself Down, Polar Bear, Sons of Kemet, The Heliocentrics, Soccer96 Website www.thecometiscoming.co.uk Albums Channel the Spirits, Prophecy Members Shabaka Hutchings, Betamax Killer, Danalogue The Conqueror Genres Jazz, Funk, Psychedelic rock, Electronica, Punk rock Similar Melt Yourself Down, Sons of Kemet, Shabaka and The Ancestors, Soccer96, Jamie Woon Profiles | ||
The comet is coming do the milky way
The Comet Is Coming are a London-based band who incorporate elements of jazz, electronica, funk and psychedelic rock. They are signed to The Leaf Label and released their debut EP Prophecy on limited edition 12" vinyl on 13 November 2015, with the full-length album Channel The Spirits following on 1 April 2016. The band members go by the pseudonyms "King Shabaka", "Danalogue the Conquerer" and "Betamax Killer"; who are saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, synth player Dan Leavers and drummer Max Hallett respectively.
Contents
The comet is coming neon baby
History
In an interview with M magazine, Betamax Killer spoke of the band's genesis:
Me and Danalogue the Conqueror play as a psychedelic electro synths and live drums duo called Soccer96. We began to notice a tall shadowy figure present at some of our gigs. At some point he appeared at the side of the stage with his sax in hand. When he got up on stage to play with us it created an explosive shockwave of energy that stunned us all. A couple of weeks later King Shabaka rang me up and said ‘hey let’s make a record’ so we booked three days in Total Refreshment Centre studios. It all came together at an incredible speed. We played and recorded to 1/4 tape with no pre-written material. By the end of three days we had recorded hours of music.
The imagery associated with the band is based around outer space, science fiction and B-movies, as can be seen in the music videos for their singles "Neon Baby" and "Do the Milky Way", as well as in song titles and artwork. "Do the Milky Way" premiered on The Quietus. In a feature in The Guardian in April 2016, the group were described as the "true heirs" of cosmic jazz pioneer Sun Ra, and praised for their "fusion of jazz, Afrobeat and electronica in an improvisational, intergalactic mash-up". The Quietus wrote that although the band is "intrinsically linked to funk...and spiritually linked to all manner of cosmic music via their imagery (and love of space-creating echo and reverb effects), The Comet Is Coming has the feel of an utterly fresh sort of project".
King Shabaka elaborates on the cosmic side of the band and the connection to Sun Ra in the same article, when describing the crystal that dominates the cover of their Prophecy EP. He says, "The other thing about the crystal, metaphorically speaking, is the whole Sun Ra thing of creating your own myths. The thing I like that Sun Ra says a lot is the fact that societies that can create their own mythological structures are the ones that have their own agency. To the point at which you can dictate the terms of what's real and what's not real. The crystal in the hand forces you to create your own myth".
In August 2016, the band was nominated for the Mercury Prize for their debut album, Channel the Spirits.
In January 2017 the band was one of the recipients of the Momentum Music Fund through PRS for Music.
Discography
Songs
Space CarnivalChannel the Spirits · 2016
Journey Through the Asteroid BeltChannel the Spirits · 2016
Star FurnaceChannel the Spirits · 2016