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Mar 21, 2024 By Mark Redfern Photography by James Cargill

Last September, Broadcast announced a new demo collection, Spell Blanket - Collected Demos 2006-2009, on what would have been late singer Trish Keenan’s 55th birthday. Now they have confirmed a release date for the album and also announced another collection, Distant Call - Collected Demos 2000-2006, as well as sharing one track from each album, the unreleased demo “Follow the Light” from Spell Blanket and the demo version of Tender Buttons track “Tears in the Typing Pool,” from Distant Call. Listen to both below, followed by the tracklists and cover artwork for each collection.

Spell Blanket is a collection of unreleased demos by Keenan and is due out May 3 via Warp. It features demos recorded to 4-track tapes and MiniDiscs, songs that were intended for the follow-up to Tender Buttons.

Distant Call collects demos of Broadcast songs that ended up on Haha Sound, Tender Buttons, and The Future Crayon. It also includes two songs, “Come Back to Me” and “Please Call to Book,” that Keenan had recorded in response to Broadcast’s 2006 “Let’s Write a Song” project, in which fans submitted lyrics on postcards to be used in finished songs.

A press release states that Distant Call will be the last release by Broadcast.

Spell Blanket was originally announced via a Facebook post and with a then projected early 2024 release date (its album cover was also shared at the time).

Keenan unexpectedly died in January 2011 from complications with pneumonia after contracting swine flu virus H1N1 while touring Australia. At the time of her passing Broadcast was a duo with James Cargill, also her romantic partner. In 2017, in honor of what would’ve been Keenan’s 49th birthday, Cargill shared the previously unreleased demo, “Tunnel View.” In 2020, in honor of her 52nd birthday, the previously unreleased four-track demo, “Where Are You?,” was shared.

In an exclusive interview with Under the Radar in November 2011, Cargill told us he was working on a new Broadcast album with vocals and music worked on before Keenan’s passing. “Trish left a lot of tapes, four-tracks and stuff, and I’ve been going through those,” Cargill said. “It’s difficult, and I’m connected to it at the same time. It’s wonderful, but I’m also feeling a sense of loss.” The album never surfaced and this demo collection is being released instead.

Read our 2003 interview with Broadcast, all the way back in our fifth print issue.

Spell Blanket - Collected Demos 2006-2009 Tracklist:

01. The Song Before The Song Comes Out
02. March Of The Fleas
03. Greater Than Joy
04. Mother Plays Games
05. My Marble Eye
06. Roses Red
07. Hip Bone To Hip Bone
08. Running Back To Me
09. I Blink You Blink
10. Infant Girl
11. I Run In Dreams
12. Luminous Image
13. A Little Light
14. Hairpin Memories
15. My Body
16. Follow The Light
17. Tunnel View
18. Where Are You?
19. Singing Game
20. I Want To Be Fine
21. The Games You Play
22. Grey Grey Skies
23. Puzzle
24. The Clock Is On Fire
25. Petal Alphabet
26. Tell Table
27. Fatherly Veil
28. Dream Power
29. Heartbeat
30. Call Sign
31. Crone Motion
32. Sleeping Bed
33. Join In Together
34. Colour In The Numbers
35. I Am The Bridge
36. Spirit House

Distant Call - Collected Demos 2000-2006 Tracklist: 01. Tears in the Typing Pool [Demo]
02. Still Feels Like Tears [Demo]
03. Come Back To Me [Demo]
04. The Little Bell [Demo]
05. Distant Call [Demo]
06. Valerie [Demo]
07. Colour Me In [Demo]
08. Ominous Cloud [Demo]
09. Flame Left From The Sun [Demo]
10. Where Youth And Laughter Go [Demo]
11. Poem Of A Dead Song [Demo]
12. O How I Miss You [Demo]
13. Pendulum [Demo]
14. Please Call To Book [Demo]

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