H19 Public Service Broadcasting

There’s a strong thematic concept to Public Service Broadcasting’s fourth album, Bright Magic; possibly their most ambitious undertaking yet, it brings the listener to the heart of the largest cultural hub in Europe – Berlin, exploring the city’s post-war journey.

An album in three parts – Building A City / Building A Myth / Bright Magic – it’s not just about one city, but all centres of human interaction and community which allow the free exchange and cross-pollination of ideas.

Public Service Broadcasting are simply magical live and have been “teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future” with fascinating visuals for more than a decade now. 2013’s debut album Inform – Educate – Entertain used archival samples from the British Film Institute as audio-portals to the Battle Of Britain, the summit of Everest and beyond. Two years later, The Race For Space used similar methods to laud the superpowers’ rivalry and heroism in orbit and on the Moon. In 2017, joined by voices including Manic Street Preachers’ James Dean Bradfield,  Every Valley  was a moving exploration of community and memory via the rise and fall of the British coal industry. Pointedly topical in its analyses, it reached number four on the UK charts.