Public Service Broadcasting – “Blue Heaven” (Feat. Andreya Casablanca)
Back in June, the English post-rockers Public Service Broadcasting announced a new album called Bright Magic. The whole album is steeped in the mythology and reality of Berlin, with bandmember J. Willgoose, Esq. having moved there for a year. While there, he took inspiration from walking around the city but also working at Hansa, the studio where Bowie made Low and “Heroes” and where U2 made Acthung Baby. As a result, Bright Magic became a concept album about the city but also the music that has moved in and out of it through the decades.
So far, the group has shared a lead single called “People, Let’s Dance.” Today, they’re back with another one called “Blue Heaven.” While “People, Let’s Dance” featured EERA, the new one finds Public Service Broadcasting teaming up with Andreya Casablanca, from the Berlin band Gurr. After an airy beginning, a beat kicks in and Casablanca leads the band through a song that’s subtly soaring, a sort of dreamy banger with cathartic guitar breaks along the way.
The song was inspired by Marlene Dietrich. “The lyrics highlight her power of self-manipulation, her ambition, her bravery and her lack of compromise on vital matters of character — ‘I am all my own invention /I’m in my blue heaven’ and so on,” Willgoose explained. “It’s named after the jazz number ‘My Blue Heaven’ which she sang regularly and which she said first made her dream of America.” Check it out below.
Bright Magic is out 9/24 via Play It Again Sam. Pre-order it here.