Broadcast

Broadcast formed in Birmingham in 1995, the core duo of Trish Keenan and James Cargill developing a sound that drew on 1960s library music, krautrock, and psychedelic pop in ways that felt genuinely new. Keenan's voice — cool, precise, and deeply affecting — was the emotional centre of everything they did. Their early singles on Wurlitzer Jukebox and then Warp Records generated significant critical excitement.

'The Noise Made by People' (2000) was their debut album proper, a remarkable record that sounded like nothing else — vintage electronics, Keenan's voice, and a sense of melancholy and mystery that was entirely their own. 'Haha Sound' (2003) and 'Tender Buttons' (2005) developed the sound further, each album more stripped back and experimental than the last. Their collaboration with The Focus Group, 'Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age' (2009), was a further step into pure sound exploration.

Trish Keenan died in January 2011 from pneumonia contracted during the H1N1 flu pandemic, aged 42. Her death was a profound loss to British music. James Cargill has not released music under the Broadcast name since. Their back catalogue — five studio albums and a series of extraordinary singles — stands as one of the most singular and emotionally powerful bodies of work in British music history.