ACL Fest Interview: The Comet Is Coming

Photo by Fabrice Bourgelle

A freewheeling powerhouse of manic sax riffing, melodic synthwave, and thundering grooves, the Comet Is Coming combines the rhythms of modern electronica. Credit keyboardist Dan "Danalogue" Leavers and drummer Max "Betamax" Hallett and the improvisational fire of contemporary jazz courtesy sax master "King Shabaka" Hutchings. The leaderless UK collective ("It's like an experiment," says Danalogue. "Can anarchy work in a musical format?") presents a unified vision on second LP Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery, which explores notions of connection to the infinite and universal unity.

"We're delving into that one specific, deep mystery, which is one that we all share," muses the keyboardist. "No one knows what's gonna happen after you die, right? You've got paradise mythology, heaven mythology, people going into psychedelic trances where they swear they've gone into the afterlife and come back. It's such a rich area of investigation."

The trio continues its philosophical, spiritual, and cosmic explorations on new EP The Afterlife, six thematic tracks recorded at the same time as the full album.

"The first track, 'All That Matters Is the Moments,' is a realization of how infinitesimally small your part in the cosmic journey is. It's like a flash. But within that, that's how important life is – the joy in each moment. So The Afterlife is more specific to the momentary transience of life as a human being."

Heady stuff for a band with no lyrics.

"The best thing about instrumental music is that people can very much have their own experience," notes Danalogue. "In a way, it makes it more flexible. It means we can travel to Japan or Russia or anywhere across Europe where they're not an English-speaking nation, and it gives everyone an equal footing to really dig the meaning."

The Comet Is Coming