Frontispiece by C. P. Gray from Sara Bassett's The Story of Sugar, 1917
Last Friday, Trish Keenan passed away at the age of 42, due to complications related to pneumonia and H1N1 flu. She was the front-woman of Birmingham, UK band Broadcast, and her passing came as a total surprise. Like a lot of people, I feel stunned by this sudden loss - Keenan's voice and musical vision were unique and special. Intensely interested in both electronic music and vintage psychedelia, she specialized in creating inorganic music with an organic warmth. Her precise, affectless singing style was somehow inviting and comforting, giving her songs a serenity and melodic focus I've found in few other artists.
I was shocked to learn that she was 42 when she passed away - she seemed to still be refining her sound and approach to music, and I was expecting to be hearing great new things from Broadcast for years to come. Weirdly, the first Broadcast song I ever heard was Of Montreal's cover of "Colour Me In" (a great song), but the album I always go back to is the band's first, The Noise Made by People. It is the starkest and most minimal of their full-length releases, giving Keenan's voice the greater impact. The haunting "Until Then" may be my favorite track, and it seems a fitting song for remembering Trish Keenan today.
"Until Then" by Broadcast
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