Public Service Broadcasting have announced their fifth studio album ‘The Last Flight’, set for release on 4 October 2024 via SO Recordings.
The new album focuses on the final voyage of pioneering American aviator Amelia Earhart. Known for her numerous aviation records and being the first woman to fly solo across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Earhart disappeared in 1937 during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe in her Lockheed Model 10-E Electra aircraft.
J. Willgoose Esq., speaking about the album, said: “I wanted to do a woman-focused story, because most of the archive we have access to is overwhelmingly male. I was initially drawn in by Earhart’s final fight, rather than the successes that she had, but the more I read the more I became fascinated by her. Her bravery and her aeronautical achievements were extraordinary, but her philosophy and the dignity that she had… she was an outstanding person.”
He continued: “The final flight is the spine of the journey: the story jumps off at different points, and examines different facets of her personality, her relationship with her husband, her attitude to flying, her attitude to existing. She gave herself, I think, less than a 50% chance of survival when she flew the Atlantic alone. To put yourself, willingly, in those situations… I think it says something about that drive at the heart of humanity.”
“However The Last Flight isn’t doom-laden or covered in grief. There’s adventure, freedom, the joy of being alive. The reason why she wanted to fly was to find the beauty in living – ‘to know the reason why I’m alive, and to feel that every minute.’ The flight did fail, but she was right. Of all the people we’ve written about, I have the deepest respect and admiration for her.”
The band have also shared the album’s first single, ‘Electra’, a tribute to Earhart’s aircraft. Willgoose described the track: “The song is about Amelia Earhart’s plane, the marvellously named Electra. To match the name, the vibrancy and the excitement of the aircraft, the track is full of pulsing electronics and interlocking, percussive melody lines, plus pace.”
‘The Last Flight’ was recorded in the band’s southeast London studio, with one day of string recordings at The Church in north London with the London Contemporary Orchestra. Guest appearances include Carl Broemel from My Morning Jacket, Berlin voices Andreya Casablanca and EERA, and This Is The Kit’s Kate Stables.
Public Service Broadcasting have announced an instore/outstore tour for album release week in early October, as well as a full UK and European tour scheduled for October and November 2024. Several shows, including Manchester Albert Hall, Bristol Beacon, and London’s Roundhouse, have already sold out.
The dates in full read:
AUGUST
17 Trentham Live, Trentham Estate, Staffordshire, UK (w/ Manic Street Preachers)
OCTOBER
4 Crash, Leeds, UK (daytime – signing only)
4 Night & Day, Manchester, UK
5 The Baltic, Liverpool, UK
6 The Brook, Southampton, UK
7 Strange Brew, Bristol, UK
8 Pryzm, Kingston, UK
16 Barrowland, Glasgow, UK
17 Music Hall Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
18 Albert Hall, Manchester, UK (SOLD OUT)
19 O2 Academy Leeds, Leeds, UK
21 The Glasshouse International Centre for Music, Gateshead, UK
22 Rock City, Nottingham, UK
24 Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, UK
25 Corn Exchange, Cambridge, UK
26 Bristol Beacon, Bristol, UK (SOLD OUT)
28 Cardiff University Great Hall, Cardiff, UK
29 Roundhouse, London, UK (SOLD OUT)
30 Brighton Dome, Brighton, UK
31 Friars Aylesbury at The Waterside Theatre, Aylesbury, UK
NOVEMBER
2 3Olympia Theatre, Dublin, Ireland
3 The Telegraph Building, Belfast, UK
4 Cyprus Avenue, Cork, Ireland
10 Melkweg (Oude Zaal), Amsterdam, Netherlands
11 Ancienne Belgique Club, Brussels, Belgium (SOLD OUT)
12 Club Volta, Cologne, Germany
13 Vera, Groningen, Netherlands
14 Knust, Hamburg, Germany
16 Blå, Oslo, Norway
17 Kägelbanan, Stockholm, Sweden
18 Vega, Copenhagen, Denmark
19 Columbia Theatre, Berlin, Germany
20 Ampere, Munich, Germany
21 Mascotte, Zurich, Switzerland
23 Arci Bellezza, Milan, Italy
25 La Nau, Barcelona, Spain
26 Sala Copérnico, Madrid, Spain
27 Dabadaba Club, San Sebastian, Spain
29 Petit Bain, Paris, France
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