Public Service Broadcasting have unveiled a new single, ‘Lichtspiel III: Symphonie Diagonale’, the latest offering from their upcoming album Bright Magic. It’s the third in a series of tracks entitled ‘Lichtspiel’ that were inspired by early abstract, expressionist films debuted in Berlin. Check it out below.
“All of these films are remarkable, ground-breaking works which epitomise for me the idea of bright magic, but I think Viking Eggeling’s Symphonie Diagonale is my favourite of the three we’ve written about,” J. Willgoose, Esq. said in a press statement. “The track is a plaintive piano and synth piece to mirror what I saw as a mournful, elegiac film. The sound is heavily influenced by Vangelis – the patterns and light in Eggeling’s work remind me of some of Blade Runner‘s incredible production design (for example the famous Frank Lloyd Wright balcony and some of the neon imagery), and there’s very much a through line from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis to Ridley Scott’s film.
Bright Magic is due for release on September 24 via Play It Again Sam. It includes the previously released singles ‘Blue Heaven’ and ‘People, Let’s Dance’.