There just aren’t enough Sun Ra influenced space dub funk jazz trios in the world. London-based band The Comet Is Coming (who take their name from a Radiophonic Workshop track) may be cosmic travellers, sonically speaking, but their philosophy is predominantly rooted on planet Earth. Resistance of authority figures, collective responsibility and day to day survival are common themes. What binds us together is their raison d’etre, not what separates. Most of the tracks aired tonight are taken from stunning new album Trust In The Lifeforce of The Deep Mystery and they may be without Kate Tempest (who appears on Blood of The Past) but they create big thunderstorms.
What’s so striking is also how slinky they can be. Dan Leavers, aka Danalogue the Conqueror, plays shimmering, effervescent keyboard, and, save for a slightly over-indulgent drum solo from Max Hallett (Betamax the Killer) they find their groove in an incendiary, extended Space Carnival which is teased out like the most wonderful foreplay.
It’s all anchored of course by the sinewy saxophone by King Shabaka (legendary musician Shabaka Hutchings) who brings more yelpy texture to the mix. It’s like the aural equivalent of abstract art, fusing together disparate sources which somehow all cohere.
Summon The Fires gets the whole room bouncing as one, and there’s a sense of bonhomie, even as my socks threaten to melt in the sauna-like atmosphere, filled to capacity.
“If we all die, we die together, right?” Danalogue yells out at one point, with arms raised aloft. Well, if this truly marks the forthcoming apocalypse, there are worse ways to go than this wild, psychedelic jazz rave. Pass the glow sticks.