The Comet Is Coming Unearth Archival Songs for Channel the Spirits Reissue

The Comet Is Coming, a breakout Shabaka project and key influence on London jazz in the 2010s, are readying a 10th anniversary reissue of their debut album, Channel the Spirits. The trio, completed by Danalogue and Betamax, is packaging the Mercury-nominated record with its EPs from the period (Prophecy and Death to the Planet), as well as four previously unreleased recordings. One, “Late Night Party Jam 2,” was put to tape at Total Refreshment Centre, the beloved London venue where the group served as unofficial house band. Listen to it below. The reissue, exhaustively titled Exploding in Slow Motion: the Complete Channel the Spirits Recordings 2013-2017CE, arrives November 20 via Leaf.

Shabaka said in a press release, “I like that the freshness of that initial encounter is documented and understood as the album, but then the way we related to it personally gig after gig matured…. It’s a snapshot of a particular energy in London at that time. It takes me to warehouse parties and soundsystems and nights at [Total Refreshment Centre] with near 400 people in a room that would be sweaty with 50.”

The Comet Is Coming announced their split in 2023, eventually cancelling their final concert as part of a strike in solidarity with Palestine. Shabaka released his debut solo album, Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace, the following year.

Exploding in Slow Motion: the Complete Channel the Spirits Recordings 2013-2017CE:
01 The Prophecy
02 Space Carnival
03 Journey Through the Asteroid Belt
04 Nano
05 New Age
06 Slam Dunk in a Black Hole
07 Cosmic Dust
08 Star Furnace
09 Channel the Spirits
10 Deep Within the Engine Deck
11 Lightyears [ft. Joshua Idehen]
12 End of Earth
13 Neon Baby
14 Star Exploding in Slow Motion
15 Do the Milky Way
16 Cosmic Serpent
17 Final Days of the Apocalypse [ft. Joshua Idehen]
18 Late Night Party Jam 2
19 Slammin
20 Transmission
21 Closing Credits
22 Start Running
23 Final Eclipse (Full Version)
24 March of the Rising Sun
25 Ascension
26 Neon Baby (John Kennedy X-Posure Xfm Session)
27 Final Eclipse (Live)
28 Space Carnival (Live)

The Comet Is Coming - Exploding in Slow Motion: the Complete Channel the Spirits Recordings 2013-2017CE