The Comet Is Coming announce tenth anniversary reissue of debut album, Channel The Spirits

The Comet Is Coming — Shabaka Hutchings, Dan Leavers (Danalogue) and Max Hallett (Betamax) — first formed in 2013 when Hutchings jumped on stage during a Soccer96 set at the Total Refreshment Centre, leading the trio to explore working together at the venue's in-house studio. Within just a few days, days they had the bones of an album. "It was only supposed to be a demo," Hallett reflects, "but we came to realise we had made our first album before we had even decided we were a band."

The band will release Exploding In Slow Motion: The Complete Channel The Spirits Recordings 2013-2017CE on 20 November via The Leaf Label. The release brings together the original album — which was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize — the Prophecy and Death To The Planet EPs, and various rarities from the era, including four previously unreleased tracks. One the unreleased songs, "Late Night Party Jam 2", lands today to preview the collection after being recently rediscovered from the earliest known Comet recordings at The Total Refreshment Centre in 2013.

Channel The Spirits touches on free jazz, afrobeat, electronica, psychedelia and unearthly dub. "It was the album where we really let rip," says Leavers. "Genuinely, every decision we made was to make the coolest fucking record we could imagine, not thinking of any scene, genre, record label, album review or outside voice of any kind."

In addition to the EPs and unreleased tracks, Exploding In Slow Motion: The Complete Channel The Spirits Recordings 2013-2017CE also includes unreleased live renditions of "Final Eclipse" and "Space Carnival" and a session version of "Neon Baby" recorded for John Kennedy's XFM show. The album will be released on digital formats, CD, cassette, and on limited vinyl variants.

Exploding In Slow Motion: The Complete Channel The Spirits Recordings 2013-2017CE artwork

Exploding In Slow Motion: The Complete Channel The Spirits Recordings 2013-2017CE tracklist

Side A: Channel The Spirits
"The Prophecy"
"Space Carnival"
"Journey Through The Asteroid Belt"
"Nano"
"New Age"
"Slam Dunk In A Black Hole"

Side B: Channel The Spirits
"Cosmic Dust"
"Star Furnace"
"Channel The Spirits"
"Deep Within The Engine Deck"
"Lightyears (feat. Joshua Idehen)"
"End of Earth"

Side C: Prophecy
"Neon Baby"
"Star Exploding In Slow Motion"
"Do The Milky Way"
"Cosmic Serpent"
"Final Days Of The Apocalypse (feat. Joshua Idehen)"

Side D: The Ancient Tapes
"Late Night Party Jam 2" [previously unreleased]
"Slammin" [first time on vinyl]
"Transmission" [first time on vinyl]
"Closing Credits" [first time on vinyl]

Side E: Death To The Planet
"Start Running"
"Final Eclipse (Full Version)"
"March Of The Rising Sun"

Side F: Death To The Planet + live
"Ascension"
"Neon Baby (John Kennedy X-Posure Xfm Session)" [previously unreleased]
"Final Eclipse (Live)" [previously unreleased]
"Space Carnival (Live)" [previously unreleased]