Public Service Broadcasting’s stunning tribute to Amelia Earhart

Those who have heard of Public Service Broadcasting are understandably excited for the release of their new album.

Those who haven’t… Well, here’s the skinny.

Public Service Broadcasting – or PSB as they shall henceforth be referred to – is a London quartet led by J. Willgoose, Esq. (machines, guitars, samples), Wrigglesworth (drums, piano), JF Abraham (bass and assorted instruments); and Mr B (visuals and set design for live shows).

Yes, those are stage names.

Any parent thinking of naming their child Wrigglesworth needs a talking to.

Mr B is inspired, though.

They’re an ambitious outfit fusing electronic layers and rock sensibilities with sound extracts from historical archives – whether period radio or TV recordings. This leads Willgoose, Esq. & Co. to craft wonderfully immersive concept albums that fully commit to their thematic undertaking.

There was their 2013 debut ‘Inform-Educate-Entertain’, which featured samples from the British Film Institute (BFI) to celebrate human achievements like the first expedition on Mount Everest; 2015’s ‘The Race For Space’, which relived the American and Soviet space race from 1957 to 1972 via more samples from the BFI; 2017’s ‘Every Valley’, focusing on the history of the mining industry in Wales; and 2021’s ‘Bright Magic’, which relied on speech samples and guest singers to chronicle the history of Berlin.

While these archival-based sonic documentaries all sound very heady and pretentious, PSB has truly mastered the art of musical storytelling, delighting fans with experimental soundscapes that complement the topic du jour.

For PSB’s new historical deep dive, ‘The Last Flight’, the band has elected to focus on pioneering American pilot Amelia Earhart.

Over the course of nine tracks, their fifth album is a thematic exploration of the last voyage of the “aviatrix” who, in 1922, aged just twenty-five, became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Then, in 1937, she announced to the world that she would become the first woman to complete an aerial circumnavigation of the globe. On 2 July, her and her navigator Fred Noonan left Papua New Guinea to fly to Howland Island in the Central Pacific. They never made it and disappeared without a trace.

Earhart’s life and fateful voyage has been portrayed before, notably with Rosaline Russell (1943’s Flight for Freedom), Diane Keaton (1994’s Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight) and Hilary Swank (2009’s Amelia) all playing her on the big screen.

Now, Earhart’s fatal last adventure gets immortalized in music…

The album opens with ‘I Was Always Dreaming’, and the voice of the pioneer welcomes us.

There aren’t many audio sources of Earhart, so voice actor Kate Graham reads snippets of the air ace’s journal entries to the sound of ethereal atmospherics and moody bass chords. Throughout the record, these recreations of Earhart’s voice are tooled to sound like they are period accurate; the effect, while not authentic, is pretty damn convincing.

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It’s a dreamlike and faintly ominous start, which contrasts with its significantly more upbeat neighbour ‘Towards The Dawn’. The song is full of optimism and PSB captures the excitement of adventure through radio extracts announcing the voyage and Earhart saying “I have a feeling that there’s just about one more good flight left in me”; “We’re on our way!”; and “All of this will soon become routine.”

If only she knew how right she was.

This poppy number really sets the tone. While Earhart’s story ends in tragedy, ‘The Final Flight’ is not a sombre record. The music is ofen uplifting and expresses a sense of wonder and adventure. Above all gloom, which is present at times, the drama PSB creates primarily conveys a joy for life.

‘The Fun Of It’ is another pop-sounding number, featuring Andreya Casablanca (of the Berlin duo Gurr) on vocals. It’s a sweet ode to pioneering excitement, filled with catchy guitar riffs and a few delightful glockenspiel notes. ‘The South Atlantic’ is another collaborative track, with This Is The Kit’s Kate Stables lending her vocal talents to a more minimalist song which recreates the calm sensation of floating among the clouds.

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This peaceful feeling is ruptured by ‘Electra’, which is one of the album’s standout tracks. Named after Earhart’s Lockheed Model 10-E Electra aircraft in which she took her final flight, this song feels like it could have been at home on their album ‘The Race For Space’. It’s a propulsive track, bolstered by staccato and borderline funky rhythms, period radio samples about the engine, and stellar work from Norwegain singer EERA and Northern Irish composer Hannah Peel.

‘Arabian Flight’ is a more romantic sounding number, with more of Graham’s vocals guiding the listener through the story. The affecting song perfectly complements Earhart’s words “The greatest joy of flying is the magnificence of the view” and signals a slight shift in tone. This is confirmed by the aptly-named ‘Monsoons’. It’s the rockiest song on the album, with guitar thrashes and a bassline in the second half that would make the Queens of the Stone Age blush. The band ushers in a sense of chaos and darkness, mirroring the tumult of flying over southeast Asia during monsoon season.

We hear Graham as Earhart say: “If this cockpit springs a leak, we’ll drown out here.”

Subverting expectations once again, the album’s penultimate track returns to a sense of romanticism. The emotional ‘A Different Kind Of Love’, featuring a returning EERA on vocal duties, opens on a phone conversation between Earhart and her husband George P. Putnam.

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“Everything is OK,” she says. “It’s nice to hear your voice.”

“Yours too,” he replies.

“I’ll cable you an estimate when we arrive at Howland,” she tells him in the closing seconds of the song.

It’s a poignant moment on this introspective track that champions both the independence and love at the heart of their relationship. It leads to the album’s conclusion ‘Howland’, named after the island that was Earhart’s destination in her final communication. The longest track on ‘The Last Flight’ at nearly nine minutes, it’s an atmospherically rich and moving way to end the journey. Initially delicate, the crescendoing string section merged with the fainter audio samples of the Earhart recordings makes for a haunting listen. As the funereal strings and synths fade, our heroine reads Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Tide Rises, The Tide Falls”, before a prolonged silence settles in.

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We’re left with the sounds of waves and birds chirping over an anonymous watery grave.

At once vibrant and heart-rending, PSB has managed to deliver textured and heartfelt soundscapes in their tribute to Earhart’s dreams, determination and life spirit. ‘The Final Flight’ is the evocative soundtrack to her mysterious last journey, filled with romanticism, excitement and tragedy, and a truly record to treasure.

To hark back to the title of their debut album, PSB informs, educates, and entertains. But also stirs the soul.

Public Service Broadcasting’s ‘The Final Flight’ is out today.

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