Album review - The Comet is Coming // Trust in a Lifeforce of Deep Mystery

At this point in time it’s extremely difficult to imagine Shabaka Hutchings releasing anything short of absolute genius. His previous album with Sons of Kemet - Your Queen is a Reptile certainly ticked all the right boxes giving him critical acclaim across the board. … It’s not about ticking boxes though is it? Hutchings is well beyond ticking boxes. So much so he’s practically reduced the concept to a figment of his imagination so far away that it may as well reside on Jupiter. Perhaps this is what the cosmic-psych-funk-jazz trio searches to dispel… Box tickers.

The Comet is Coming with Trust in Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery artfully combines a superb sonic swill of jazz and space inspired electronica. I was lucky enough to see the 3-piece at the Norwich Arts Centre a couple of years ago. Not only was the gig absolutely mind-bending, it gave me a much needed kick-up-the-backside to explore the greater depths of the genre.

Co-written and comprised of Hutchings on Sax, Dan Leavers on the keys, and Max Hallett thrashing the shit out of the drums, this project is undoubtedly their finest yet. Trust in Lifeforce Of The Deep Mystery dictates that you’re merely a passenger strapped aboard the Tenor Saxophone - Hutchings the pilot. Super Zodiac and Timewave Zero evoke intensive moments of chaos, rocketing towards earths outer edge… if it wasn’t for drums and wobbly synth holding this tight affair together, I might have been feeling a little cabin sick. Unity really struck me, boldly following the thirty odd minutes of melodic madness that precedes, it floats weightlessly in no particular direction, a glorious ambience which pleads you to think introspectively.

Kate Tempest makes a guest appearance on the track Blood of the Past, her words deal with a whole host of poignant issues, from the gluttonous greed, to distinct racial inequalities which plague ‘modern’ society. The fluidity in ideas, penetrative beats, and smooth production really sets this album aside in quality. Shabaka Hutchings has firmly put himself in the front seat in driving the burgeoning British jazz scene to new, unseen levels.

A final note, all I ask is you give this album the respect it deserves and listen to with some half decent speakers or headphones, heck- buy the vinyl if you can. Just make sure you listen in it’s entirety, it’s only 46 minutes! 9/10 Slider & the Goose